Bogota - Colombia offered $10 000 on Wednesday for the capture of the father of an 11-year-old girl in intensive care following emergency surgery to remove 104 cocaine-filled capsules from her stomach.
The unnamed girl, reportedly Colombia's youngest drug mule, is in hospital under police protection following the surgery in Cali, in western Colombia.
Her plight has shocked and angered many Colombians.
“The police have offered a reward of 20 million pesos (nearly $10 000) for the capture of the father,” Carlos Molina, a Cali police spokesman, told reporters.
The reward is more than 30 times the minimum monthly wage in Colombia.
The girl, who had between 500g and 600g of cocaine inside her, was supposed to have flown to Europe - probably Spain, authorities say - after spending the weekend with her father, who is separated from the girl's mother.
But the child was rushed to hospital before she could take the trip.
Colombia, along with Peru, is one of the world's largest producers of cocaine. - AFP