Chinese police seize 1,094 for baby trafficking

[ShangTsung]

Chinese police seize 1,094 for baby trafficking

Xinhua, February 28, 2014

Chinese police busted four major online baby-trafficking groups and saved 382 babies earlier this month, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Thursday.

A total of 1,094 suspects were seized across the country in a joint maneuver on February 19, according to the ministry.

These groups are accused of trading babies by establishing illegal online platforms and shops under the name of adoption or re-homing centers.

Criminals have turned to the Internet for illegal human trafficking in recent years, which brings difficulties for investigation, police said.

The ministry vowed a reinforced crackdown on human trafficking and said it is capable of coping with any cunning criminals.

 

[ShangTsung]

FILE - In this Jan. 24, 2010 file photo, a woman holds a candle behind a board showing photos of missing children during a campaign to spread the information to search for them in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. Chinese police have rescued 382 abducted babies and arrested 1,094 suspects in a national operation that busted four major Internet-based, baby-trafficking rings, the Public Security Ministry said Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. CHINA OUT Photo: AP


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[ShangTsung]

More than 1,000 arrested in China for trafficking babies on the internet

Four trafficking rings smashed and 382 babies rescued, says the Ministry of Public Security

PUBLISHED : Friday, 28 February, 2014, 12:37pm
UPDATED : Friday, 28 February, 2014, 4:58pm

Teddy Ng in Beijing [email protected]

Baby trafficking has emerged as a serious social problem on mainland China. Photo: EPA

Mainland Chinese police have arrested more than 1,000 people in multiple cities for trafficking babies on the internet, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Friday.

On Feb. 19, authorities rescued 382 infants from trafficking operations conducted in 27 cities, and also smashed four baby-smuggling rings, said a statement released by the ministry on its website.

The crackdowns were launched after police in Beijing and Jiangsu received a tip-off last year that the suspects were engaged in child trafficking by running a website that promoted baby adoption.

Further investigations revealed that the suspects operated four such websites, and used various tools on the internet, such as an instant messaging platform and online bulletin boards, to communicate with potential buyers.

A total of 1,094 suspects were arrested in the clampdown and some of them made confessions, the ministry explained.

One of the suspects, Zhou Daifu, said he had paid up to 3,000 yuan (HK$3,774) to another suspect for procuring government registration certificates for the smuggled babies, reported People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party. Zhou would then re-sell the certificates, it said.

He would also require both the seller and buyer of the registration certificates to make a "donation", which usually cost up to six per cent of the transaction amount, to his websites. Zhou had even planned to provide surrogacy and foster care services, said the People's Daily report.

Cyberspace has provided a convenient platform for traffickers, explained Liu Ancheng, the deputy director of the security ministry’s criminal investigation bureau.

"The criminals build up their platforms through the internet, and engage in trafficking activities under the veil of baby adoption. They are operating in secrecy," he said. "They have no boundaries, and their networks are spreading across the whole nation."

The public security ministry will ramp up its crackdown on baby trafficking on the internet, Liu added.

Baby trafficking has emerged as a serious social problem on mainland China. Last month, a Shaanxi doctor was found guilty for selling babies from her hospital for as little as 1,000 yuan.

The obstetrician, Zhang Shuxia, was convicted of tricking parents into giving up their babies by changing test results to show that the babies had birth defects. She sold seven babies to a middleman and pocketed more than 100,000 yuan. Six of the seven babies were rescued by police, but a baby girl died.

A court in Shaanxi province gave Zhang a suspended death sentence for what it described as the crime's negative impact on society.

In Shandong province, two traffickers used online platforms to lure young women who had unplanned pregnancies to give up their babies, reported Shenzhen TV on Monday. The smugglers sold 10 babies over the past three years, earning more than 500,000 yuan.