A people smuggler has been jailed for hiding a Vietnamese boy inside a suitcase in the boot of his car.
Andrei Iancu, 20, was sentenced to 18 months in prison following a search by police at the port of Dover last month.
Iancu, from Buzau in Romania, was jailed at Canterbury Crown Court, having pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle a person into the UK.
The 16-year-old Vietnamese boy was found when Iancu's Skoda Octavia was stopped at the inbound search area for vehicles arriving from France.
Border Force officers opened the boot of the vehicle, which police said at first glance "appeared to only contain two large packets of crisps and several bags containing items of clothing".
But when the bags were moved, officers saw an arm protruding from a partially-opened suitcase.
The teenager was released from the case and taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition.
His condition has since improved, police said, but he was "extremely fortunate" to have survived.
Detective Inspector Bill Thornton said: "People smuggling is a serious offence and those responsible will often go to great lengths to ensure they are not caught and sent to prison.
"It should go without saying that hiding someone in a suitcase for even a short amount of time is incredibly dangerous.
"On this occasion the boy was also in the boot of a car during a cross-Channel journey, and is extremely fortunate to have survived his ordeal.
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"Iancu pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity and the length of his prison sentence reflects that.
"He can count himself lucky he does not have the boy's death on his hands because then he would be spending a much longer period behind bars."
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