Boy who swallowed 30 heroin wraps 'could die at any moment'

A 16-year-old boy has been told he could die at any moment after he swallowed £400 worth of heroin to avoid being caught by police.

The unnamed teenager was spotted by officers who were targeting drug dealers on a housing estate in Nottingham, England.

Two 'wraps' of heroin were discovered in the boy's pockets and after being taken to hospital he admitted he had stuffed between 30 and 40 wraps in his mouth.

He has spent the past five days in hospital where medical staff say they are waiting for the boy to pass the deadly contents through his body.

Inspector Dave Shardlow, who runs the police operation in The Meadows area of Nottingham, said his officers had been patrolling on mountain bikes when the teenager was seen.

"My officers saw this lad in circumstances which were suspicious and went to talk to him, but he started to choke and they realised he had swallowed something," Mr Shardlow said.

The teenager, who is known to police for being involved in drugs, is under police guard at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre. Doctors say if the packets burst, it could be fatal.

The deals are individually wrapped in cellophane.

Accident and emergency specialist Dr Paul Temple said: "If just one package breaks or leaks you will initially get the best trip of your life, but that can rapidly turn to death".

Mr Shardlow added: "We will stay at his bedside until the drugs are recovered or he dies".