Police escort suspects in a human trafficking ring through a railway station in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 18, 2016. (Photo/West China City News)
Police caught 78 suspects and rescued 15 infants in busting a child trafficking ring in southwest China's Sichuan Province and east China's Shandong Province, Sichuan police revealed Tuesday.
In September last year, police spotted a suspicious couple from Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan, who often travelled between Liangshan and Linyi City of Shandong Province.
The wife purchased infants in Liangshan, and transported them to Linyi. The husband was responsible for seeking buyers in the city, according to the investigation.
"The gang members were managed in an organized way and assumed different tasks, including trafficking infants, transportation and seeking buyers," a police officer said.
Baby boys were sold for between 50,000 yuan and 60,000 yuan (8,000 to 10,000 U.S. dollars), while girls were sold between 20,000 yuan to 30,000 yuan, police said.
Sichuan police said the rescued infants are being taken care of by THE local civil affairs department. Doctors have taken blood samples from them to help find their biological parents.
Further investigation is under way.
