The 27-year-old man was found late Sunday when his brother sought medical help for him. His 34-year-old brother had placed the suitcase with the victim inside his car before boarding the ferry from the Spanish enclave of Melilla on the North African coast to the southeastern port of Almeria.

At the end of the five-hour crossing, the older man returned to the car deck and discovered that his brother was not breathing any more. He alerted the crew of the ferry, but all attempts to revive the man failed. The older brother has been arrested for manslaughter.

In May, two people were arrested in a similar incident, where an 8-year-old was found in a physically unstable condition because of being smuggled in a suitcase.

There have been comparatively few attempts by refugees to cross the border from Melilla into Spain in the last months. Melilla and Ceuta are two Spanish port city enclaves in northwestern Africa bordered by Morocco and the Mediterranean Sea and represent the only land route between Africa and Europe.

Meanwhile, the Moroccan police said it had prevented some 400 African refugees from entering Melilla on Monday. A day earlier, officials reported the drowning of four migrants who were trying to swim to Ceuta. Three others were rescued by the Moroccan navy.

mg/jil (AP, dpa, Reuters)