Colombia's 'youngest ever drug mule', 11, is captured smuggling 104 cocaine capsules in her stomach
The girl, who has not been identified, has been recovering in hospital after more than 100 capsules were removed by doctors
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An 11-year-old girl is believed to be Colombia's youngest ever drug mule after she was captured smuggling more than 100 cocaine capsules in her stomach.
The girl, who has not been identified, has been recovering in hospital after the capsules were removed by doctors.
She was taken to hospital by her father just hours before she was due to fly to Europe, The Mirror has reported.
Police in Colombia are now hunting for the father, who allegedly left the hospital after leaving his daughter with medics.
The girl is currently under armed guard as she recovers in hospital, Sky News has reported.
Cali police commander Hoover Penilla said: "The girl underwent emergency surgery because of the risk to her life and 104 capsules that appear to be cocaine capsules were removed from her body.
"Everything is pointing to the fact this youngster was going to be used in a twisted way by adults as a drugs mule to transport drugs from Colombia to another country."
According to reports the girl had been due to fly to Spain with the drugs inside her stomach.
Earlier this year it was reported that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had identified Spain as a major transhipment country between producer countries in South America and Europe.
It is estimated 124 tons of the drug is imported to Europe overall a year.
In May this year, police seized 2.5 tons of the drug in the port of Algeciras, in what they said was one of the largest such hauls in a European port.
The cocaine was hidden in thousands of packets secreted amongst a container full of pineapples which had been shipped from Costa Rica, in Central America.