Russian woman tries to sell babies

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MOSCOW, June 2 (UPI) -- Russian authorities say a criminal case has been opened against a 22-year-old mother who tried to sell her two babies for about $7,000.

The woman was arrested Wednesday in Grozny after undercover officers gave her 200,000 rubles [$7,154] for her nine-month old boy and girl.

Police said as soon as the woman received the marked notes, she handed her children over to the "new parents."

The woman was immediately arrested and the babies were turned over to social services. The woman told investigators she decided to sell the infants because she has no money to feed the children, which she is raising alone.

"A criminal case on an article for human trafficking was opened against the woman. The babies were transferred to the children's unit of the republic's mother and child health care center," a police source told RIA Novosti.

The mother could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of child trafficking.