31 newborn babies were bought and sold from 'offers' of 35-60 million VND

8 subjects detained

The Investigation Police Agency of Binh Duong Province said it is temporarily detaining eight suspects to investigate the acts of "trafficking in persons under 16 years old" and "forging and using documents and seals of agencies and organizations".

These subjects were previously prosecuted by the Investigation Agency for participating in the ring.buying and selling babiesinter-provincial

Specifically, the subjects include: Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu (born in 1993, residing in Ho Chi Minh City), Nguyen Thi Mai (born in 1997, from Tien Giang), Chu Thi Cuc Phuong (born in 1982, from Khanh Hoa) and Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong (born in 2001, from Bac Lieu), Nguyen Thi Kim Loan (born in 1989, from Tay Ninh) and Le Thi Ngoc Tham (born in 2000, from Long An), Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai (born in 1997, from Ben Tre) and Chau Gia Han (born in 2004, from Dong Thap).

Among them, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu is an important "link", specializing in brokering the buying and selling of newborn babies in the chain.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu advertised selling newborn babies online for tens of millions of dong. Photo: CACC

The leader of the Criminal Police Department of Binh Duong Provincial Police said that through the work of grasping the situation, in early July 2022, detectives discovered a female subject named Truc, Zalo nick "Thien Truc" (subject Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu) often appeared at Binh Duong Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital (Thu Dau Mot City, Binh Duong).

The forces initially clarified that Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu approached staff, nurses, and caregivers at the maternity hospital to get information, looking for pregnant women coming for check-ups or women who had just given birth at the hospital but did not want to raise the child, had difficult circumstances, made mistakes, or other reasons to ask for or buy back the child.

"Offering" newborn babies for 35-60 million VND on social networks

By approaching both medical staff at the maternity hospital and women giving birth, after asking for or buying the newborn babies, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu proceeded to "offer" the price to sell.

According to investigation information, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu joined groups on social networks, where she advertised for sale at prices ranging from 35-60 million VND/baby.

More sophisticatedly, to legitimize the origin of the newborns, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu colluded with other subjects to create a fake set of documents for each child. The fake documents included birth certificates, DNA confirmation papers, birth certificates...

With these fake documents, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu sold these files along with the children for 30-40 million VND/set to buyers.

Using this trick, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu bought and resold many newborn babies in Binh Phuoc, Kien Giang, Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong provinces.

Also from the reconnaissance process, on August 17, when Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu was buying and selling a newborn baby in the border area between Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces, the police caught her red-handed, with evidence including 2 DNA analysis and confirmation papers, and 1 fake birth certificate.

Working with the police, Nhu confessed that the newborn baby was only 7 days old and was the child of Nguyen Thi Mai (born 1997, from Tien Giang) who sold it to Nhu for 15 million VND plus hospital fees.

After finding a buyer, on August 17, Nhu brought the newborn baby from Ho Chi Minh City to the border area between Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces to resell it to someone who wanted to buy it, but was caught red-handed by the police.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Nhu confessed that from February 2022 until now, this subject has bought and sold 6 newborn babies with fake documents, earning hundreds of millions of dong.