TAIPEI, Taiwan, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- A 14-year-old girl who said she wanted to help her ailing father has been arrested in Taiwan on suspicion of smuggling heroin.
Customs officials at Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport allegedly found 898 grams of heroin hidden in the girl's underpants after being alerted by sniffer dogs, The Taipei Times reported Monday.
The girl, who lives with her father in China's Zhuhai City, told authorities she agreed to transport items from China to Taiwan for a man named Hung who paid her father $3,100.
The girl said she didn't know the substance he gave her was drugs and wasn't aware she was doing anything unlawful.
Customs officials are studying the manifest from the girl's flight because they suspect someone on the plane was assigned to watch her.
In Taiwan, heroin smuggling is punishable by death or life imprisonment but because the girl is under 18 years of age she could have her sentence commuted.
