RIO-DE-JANEIRO, February 17 (RIA Novosti) - A one-year-old child was hospitalized after ingesting cocaine paste in the Brazilian city of Varzea Grande, national media said on Tuesday, citing a police source.

The 15-month-old boy from the central Brazilian state of Mato Grosso state is believed to have eaten a piece of cocaine paste that he found on the bed of his mother, an 18-year-old drug user. He was taken to hospital by his grandmother.

The boy was first taken to an intensive care unit, but later transferred to an observation ward.

An investigation is underway and the child's mother may be stripped of her parental rights.