BEIJING, July 19 (UPI) -- Trafficking in babies by gangs who match buyers and sellers across China continue despite police crackdowns, reports the Times of London.
Recently authorities in Henan province rescued 27 babies. The youngest among them was only 10 days old and the oldest 18 months. Police arrested 28 members of a baby-trafficking gang.
The problem is blamed partly on the government's family-planning policy which limits each couple to a single child. Some parents are willing to pay up to about $3,000 for a baby, or more than the average annual income.
But costs for the gangs are growing with the crackdowns. Two years ago, poor families in one province were prepared to sell a prized baby boy for $80 and a girl for $30. Today, a trafficker must pay $150 for a boy and about $80 for a girl.
The report said thousands of children are bought or abducted every year in China. They are sold to families that want more children, a servant or a future bride for an only son. The traffickers have also found other lucrative markets such as the country's burgeoning brothels.
