12-year-old smuggler swallows 87 condoms of heroin

Father in prison for recruiting drug mules

NEW YORK (CNN) -- A 12-year-old boy from Nigeria turned himself in to New York authorities early Thursday morning after becoming sick from swallowing 87 condoms of heroin.

According to Steve Coleman with the Port Authority Police, the boy arrived Wednesday night on British Airways Flight 87 from London.

Upon arrival in New York, the boy took a cab to an apartment building in Brooklyn where he became sick and asked the driver to take him to authorities.

Midafternoon on Thursday, the cab driver took the boy to the Port Authority police station at LaGuardia Airport, where the boy told police that he had swallowed the condoms filled with heroin. Coleman said about a pound of heroin was in the condoms.

The boy's mother lives in Norcross, Georgia, and his father is serving time in a federal prison in Virginia for recruiting drug mules to smuggle heroin into the United States.

The boy told police he had been offered $1,900 to bring the heroin to the United States. It was not clear who offered him the money.

When questioned by detectives, the mother was reportedly confused about her son's travel to New York.

The boy is in New York Hospital Medical Center in Queens in stable condition.

He was charged with juvenile delinquency and possession of a controlled dangerous substance, and will be tried in Queens Family Court.

Coleman said the Port Authority Police are continuing their investigation.