China to prosecute 103 suspects involved in baby trafficking case

World Today

Medics check babies, freed from suspected traffickers, in a welfare center. (Photo by Ouyang Xiaofei / For China Daily)

A total of 103 suspects involved in a baby trafficking case, will be prosecuted, police in east China’s Shandong Province said.

The police began investigation the case in June 2014 and uncovered a gang that had been trafficking babies from southwest China’s Sichuan Province cities of Linyi and Jining in Shandong since 2012.

Police have uncovered a total of eight trafficking rings. In September 2014, they also busted a ring in Yanzhou, Shandong and detained more than 40 suspects.

They have also rescued 37 babies and have placed them with local charities or have been temporarily adopted by families.

“The provincial civil affairs department has been paying close attention to the arrangement for the rescued babies. We have taken measures as to the related work and the cities were very cooperative with the police in receiving the babies,” Zhou Yunping, deputy head of the Shandong provincial civil affairs department said.

According to the Jinan railway police, the rings ere well-organized and had a complex relationship among members.

“The sellers don’t meet the buyers face to face. They set up a meeting locations and the suspects would drive the baby there. Sellers [hand over the] baby through the car window and buyers hand the money in. They wouldn’t see each other’s face,” Li Jianglin, a police officer with the Jinan railway police department said.