Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - With a huge operation in 15 provinces, the Chinese police arrested 802 people involved in illegal trafficking of babies and children below six years. The intervention of the police involved over 10 thousand agents inraids on several hospitals in the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, Fujian, Henan and Yunnan, where for several years a veritable "consortium "for the sale of babies to be auctioned had formed. Many of them came from families that had violated the one-child rule, which forces mothers to forced abortions and sterilizations. In total, the agents have rescued 181 children who were to be delivered in the coming days to Chinese and foreign families.
A note from the Ministry of Public Security said that the operation began in December in Henan with the arrest of four people aboard a bus carrying a group of children to be auctioned. Questioned by police, they revealed the names of the bosses of the local trafficking ring. In April, the investigations were extended to 15 other provinces, from the courier firms to clinics and hospitals.
From the information gathered by the agents, the trafficking took place thanks to the complicity of officials who signaled wealthy families of the opportunity to buy a child from women with financial problems. Before agreeing, those interested visited the clinics where they controlled the conditions of the unborn, sex, and in some cases the health of parents. Children under the age of six years were instead sold at auction. To avoid attracting attention while traveling, including several long days, traffickers would forces the infants to take heavy doses of sleeping pills. Those who fell ill during the journey were simply abandoned on the street in the bushes and left to die.
Sun Jinli, head of Public Security Zaozhuanf, Shandong, said doctors pocketed about 700 euros for each child sold. Trafficking bosses got up to 2 thousand Euros. The tariff for the families could reach figures in excess of 8 thousand Euros, especially for boys and in good health.