Malaysia busts child trafficking syndicate

(AFP) – Jul 17, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian police have smashed a child trafficking racket and rescued eight children and babies, an official said Sunday.

Police also detained 16 suspects, including four Indonesian women, in a sting operation after an Indonesian woman was nabbed on Monday when she tried to sell a 23-day-old baby girl for 10,000 ringgit (3,120 dollars).

In the latest operation on Friday, police rescued a four-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl and detained two Indonesian sisters, said to be the caretakers of the children.

Police said they are yet to determine who is behind the group or whether the eight rescued children involved any foreigners. The eight children, including three infants, are aged between 23 days and 12 years.

"We are still investigating the case," Huzir Mohamad, the criminal investigation department chief of eastern Sarawak state on Malaysia's Borneo, where the syndicate was busted, told AFP.

He said the police may seek cooperation from its Indonesian counterpart to ascertain the role of the Indonesian women.

In December last year, Malaysian police busted a baby-selling syndicate which had been operating for more than five years and arrested 13 people, including a doctor, and rescued five infants.

A woman and her two daughters were later charged with trafficking in babies. They face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.

The syndicates usually bought the babies from poor local women, from neighbouring countries or from foreign maids in the country who were talked out of having abortions. They then sold them to childless couples.