Police in Senegal have arrested the father of a 15-year-old boy who died at sea in October while trying to migrate to Europe, where he dreamed of succeeding as a footballer.
Reports said the father paid a smuggler the equivalent of $450 to traffick his son, nicknamed Doudou, to Spain from where another trafficker would ferry him to Italy where he would be registered in a football academy.
The reports added that the boy, who played soccer at a training center in the resort town of Saly, near the capital Dakar, set sail in mid-October for the Iberian Peninsula.
However, Doudou fell ill at sea after having problems with food and died en route, his body was thrown overboard into the Atlantic Ocean.
His death caused consternation in Senegal, which has recently seen an increase of migrants trying to crossing the ocean to reach Europe.
Senegalese police disclosed that they have intercepted more than 1,500 migrants in recent days.
