TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) -- Honduran children are being used
                  by drug gangs to peddle cocaine in Canadian cities, a childrens' rights group
                  said Friday.

                  Pressure group Casa Alianza said it was sending two investigators to
                  Canada shortly "to support investigations and the rescue of Honduran
                  children being exploited" there.

                  Casa Alianza officials said several children from the Central American
                  country had swallowed stones of the drug crack, derived from cocaine, and
                  were seriously ill in Canadian hospitals after being caught by Vancouver
                  police.

                  "The children are being used as little mules to transport and sell the drug,"
                  Casa Alianza's Latin American director Bruce Harris said.

                  The group said it suspected about 200 Honduran children ages 10-13 were
                  involved.

                  The group added that the drug gangs had set up smuggling and distribution
                  networks stretching from Honduras through Mexico to the United States and
                  Canada.
 

                  Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.