TRAFFICKERS USE 5-YEAR-OLD TO SMUGGLE HEROIN

A 5-year-old Colombian girl traveling alone on a commercial flight from
Bogota to New York last week was discovered carrying more than two pounds
of heroin concealed in her luggage, according to U.S. Customs Service
officials.

Although officials cited numerous cases of unaccompanied minors apprehended
smuggling illegal drugs, they said Monday that this was believed to be by
far the youngest child.

"Sending a 5-year-old girl alone on a plane to smuggle heroin represents a
new low -- even for drug traffickers," said Joe Webber, the Customs special
agent in charge for New York.

The name of the girl, who was turned over to a New York social services
agency, was not released. Although at least one adult was at the airport to
meet her, officials said the incident was still under investigation and no
arrests had been made.

Officials said a relative brought the girl to the Bogota airport last
Thursday and placed her aboard Colombia's Avianca Airlines Flight 020 to
John F. Kennedy International Airport. They said the identity of the
relative was known, but they declined to release it.

The 5-year-old was exiting the baggage area with two hard-sided suitcases
when a Customs inspector stopped her for a routine check. Examining what
appeared to be an unusually thick side on one of the bags, officials said,
the inspector found a white, powdery substance that tested positive for heroin.

One source noted that the girl's mother had been arrested at the Miami
airport in 1996 when Customs inspectors found 1 1/2 pounds of heroin packed
inside the soles of her shoes. Convicted of drug smuggling, she ultimately
was deported to Colombia. Neither parent's current whereabouts is known,
the source said.

Drug smugglers frequently use minors as drug couriers, officials said. Two
weeks ago, a 12-year-old Nigerian boy was found to have swallowed 87
condoms filled with heroin when he became sick after arriving alone on a
flight from Nigeria to New York.

In December, federal authorities in Chicago indicted 35 people in
connection with an alleged operation involving parents who rented their
infants to smugglers who used them as a cover to carry cocaine hidden in
baby formula cans from Panama, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In July 1999, an unaccompanied 9-year-old arriving in Miami on a flight
from Cali, Colombia, was found with about two pounds of heroin packed in
his Nintendo Gameboy and in three pairs of shoes in his luggage, a Customs
official said.

"It does happen, but 5 years old shocked people," the official said. "I'm
not aware of any case remotely close to this one."