Illegal immigrants have been known to go to any lengths to get into Italy but this desperate man went one step further and spent 20 hours cooped up under the bonnet of a people carrier.
The 18-year-old Afghan, who has not been named, thought he had managed to slip into the country after a 20 hour ferry crossing but his luck ran out when immigration chiefs pulled over the Nissan he was hiding in for a spot check.
A search quickly revealed the teenager hidden by the engine with a bottle of water and a blanket to ease his discomfort of being squashed into such a cramped position.
Immigration officers in Bari had pulled the car over after their suspicions were aroused by the nervousness of driver Kaloyanov Ivaylo, 24, and his passenger Georgieva Stanislava, 39, both Bulgarian, who had just arrived from Greece.
Both were immediately arrested while the illegal immigrant was helped out from under the bonnet with officers saying he was in a ''semi conscious'' state and he was taken to hospital for a check up.
The ferry had left Patras on Sunday morning before stopping in Igoumenitsa and then heading onto Bari and the route is popular with people smugglers who charge a minimum of 5000 Euro to get people into the country.
An immigration spokesman in Bari said:''The man was squashed into a small space between the engine and the grill of the car, under the bonnet.
''The conditions were appalling and all he had was a blanket and cushion to make it more comfortable for him as well as a bottle of water.
''We had stopped the car because the couple were very nervous and hesitant when they were asked to show their documents - from there we carried out a spot check and the teenager was found immediately.''
The teenager told immigration chiefs he had spent the crossing hidden in the car and that he had paid 6000 Euro to a gang for the crossing describing his journey as ''horrific.''
He added that he was from Kabul and that he had been saving money for eight years to make the crossing after finding work with a wealthy family in the Afghan capital.
The spokesman added that the arrested woman's husband had been held by police in the nearby port of Brindisi and that he was part of a large criminal gang that arranged illegal immigration.
Over the years spot checks at Italian port have uncovered illegal immigrants hidden in the boot and footwell of cars as well as among packing crates on trucks or strapped underneath the chassis.
Source : dailymail
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