Malaysian police rescue 4 babies after busting child-trafficking ring
Authorities acting on a public tip detained 23 people, including customers seeking to buy babies, during raids on an illegal abortion clinic and four homes Thursday, said a police official in southern Johor state.
The traffickers persuaded poor, unmarried women who sought abortions to deliver their children instead and sell them, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.
Others arrested included a gynecologist and a government employee who allegedly forged identification documents for the infants, the official said. The Star newspaper said three Singaporeans were held.
The New Straits Times newspaper reported the syndicate paid at least 700 ringgit (US$200; ¤150) for each baby and sold them for up to 20,000 ringgit (US$6,000; ¤4,000). Ethnic Chinese babies were the most popular, it said.
Police were investigating how many babies had been previously sold. Welfare authorities took custody of the seized babies -- three boys and a girl all under 1-year old, the police official said.
The suspects face charges including the unlawful transfer of children's custody, which is punishable by five years in prison.