Spain investigates baby-trafficking

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MADRID, March 13 (UPI) -- Spanish prosecutors in Madrid are hearing testimony from witnesses in an investigation into baby-trafficking during and after the Franco era.

Hundreds of Spanish families have already come forward in the last month claiming the theft of their babies, Think Spain reported.

One witness said the day after giving birth to a healthy girl, the hospital told her husband the baby had died and gave him a death certificate without an official stamp.

She remains convinced her baby was "sold like a piece of furniture," she said.

Many prosecutors in Seville said they were unable investigate such cases given the time that had elapsed and the institutions involved no longer exist.

In Malaga, police said their investigations failed to uncover any evidence of an organized baby-trafficking ring.

However, prosecutors throughout Spain have been instructed by the government to keep all cases involving suspected theft of children open.