Vietnamese Police Arrest Five For Selling 30 Babies

Five suspects have been arrested in the southern province of Dong Nai, Vietnam, for allegedly buying and selling about 30 infants since 2007, according to Vietnam news agency on Thursday.

The ring members made a confession to the police, saying that they had bought the infants at prices of 5 to 10 million VND (US$263 to US$526) each from several women with unwanted pregnancies in the southern provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Vinh Long, Soc Trang, An Giang, and Can Tho City as well as Ho Chi Minh City.

Then, they resold the babies to a woman named Hoa at a profit of 3 to 7 million VND (US$157 to US$368) each. One of the ring member, who had worked as a prostitute and herself had had an unwanted pregnancy, sold her own twin infants for 8 million VND (US$421).

In the confession, the suspects bought seven newborn babies from Nuong and Duc in the city of Vung Tau for 7.5 milllion VND (US$394) each and five more babies from Pham Van Nam in Dong Nai in 2008 and sold the infants in Hai Duong Province and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, so as to be brought to China. Vietnam news agency reported that the police is still hunting for the alleged ringleader of the group.