Chinese police bust child-trafficking ring, rescue 15 infants

Chinese police have carried out a raid on a human-trafficking ring in Sichuan province, rescuing 15 infants from the gang’s clutches. The children were being sold for as little as $3,000. A total of 78 arrests were made in the bust.

According to a report by Xinhua, the gang was trafficking children from China’s remote south-west to be sold to buyers in a coastal area situated some 2,000km (1,240 miles) away.

Suspicions were aroused when police spotted a couple in September that had made frequent commutes between Liangshan, Sichuan province, and Linyi, in Shandong, near the coast.

“The gang members were managed in an organized way and assumed different tasks, including trafficking infants, transportation and seeking buyers,” an officer said on Tuesday. The wife was in charge of purchasing the infants in Liangshan, to then transport them to Linyi. The husband would seek out buyers in the city.

READ MORE: Pregnant Chinese woman hides in airport for a week to deliver baby in Hong Kong

The children were priced according to gender: little boys fetched 50,000-60,000 yuan ($8,000-$10,000), and the girls 20,000-30,000 yuan. After their rescue, they were placed in the care of the local civil affairs department in Sichuan.

The police have taken blood samples to identify the children and bring them home to their biological parents.