12-YEAR-OLD DRUGS MULE SWALLOWED 87 BAGS OF HEROIN

A 12-year-old boy was recovering in hospital in the United States yesterday
after swallowing 87 condoms filled with heroin and boarding a British
Airways flight from London.

Prince Nnaedozie Umegbolu, an American who has been living with relatives in
Nigeria for two years, arrived alone in New York on Wednesday. He suffered
severe stomach pains and began passing the packets during a taxi ride from
the airport.

The boy was taken to New York Hospital, where he was initially said to be in
a "pre-toxic" state and could have died if any of the bags had burst.

It is understood the boy was paid UKP1,200 to ferry the heroin from Nigeria
to London and then on to New York.

His father is serving 10 years in a Virginia jail after being convicted of
conspiracy to process and import at least UKP23m of heroin over a 10-year
period.

The Queens district attorney Richard Brown, who said the boy will face
charges of juvenile delinquency when he recovers, said: "International drug
trafficking has reached a new low of degradation in exploiting a 12-year-old
boy by allegedly turning him into a 'mule'. The true criminals in this
terrible and tragic case are the cold-hearted and greedy dealers of death
who risk a child's life in the relentless quest for dirty money."

The boy's situation was made public as a second teenage girl was charged
with attempting to smuggle large quantities of heroin into Britain.

Customs and Excise said yesterday there was no evidence to link the cases
involving 13- and 15-year-old girls, but described the arrests as a worrying
development.

In the most recent case, a 15-year-old Swedish girl was arrested at
Manchester Airport on Thursday afternoon and 2kg of heroin - about
UKP130,000 worth - was seized after allegedly being found in her luggage.

The girl, who cannot be named because of her age, was granted bail yesterday
on condition she stays with a diplomat and his family in the Swedish
consulate in Liverpool and surrenders her passport. She was charged with the
importation of the class A drug diamorphine - heroin - when she appeared at
Manchester Youth Court. The case was adjourned to 19 April.

Her appearance comes four days after a 13-year-old girl was detained at
Manchester Airport on suspicion of drug smuggling after she stepped off a
flight from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Customs found 13kg of heroin, allegedly hidden in a compartment of her
suitcase. The drugs have a street value of about UKP900,000.

She is currently in the care of social services in Bradford, where she is
believed to have family links. Magistrates at Manchester Youth Court
adjourned the case against the girl, who has a British passport, until
Thursday.

* Police were yesterday continuing to investigate the unidentified body of a
woman found beside a motorway. The woman, believed to be aged around 60, had
swallowed 10 small packages of cocaine, which are believed to have leaked
and killed her.

Her body was discovered face down by the side of the M45 in Northamptonshire
on Wednesday morning.