February 21, 2008	Thursday	Safar 13, 1429

HANOI, Feb 20: Vietnamese police have arrested four people this week for trafficking babies, including one yet to be born, for adoption inside the country or in China, authorities here said on Wednesday.

Hoang Duc Hien, 60, and his wife Tham Thi Hoa, 47, were arrested on Sunday at a Hanoi bus station, where they were caught with two babies and a mother from southern Vietnam who was in her eighth month of pregnancy, police said.

The pregnant woman had agreed to sell the unborn baby for eight million dong ($500) after the child’s father had abandoned them, a police officer said.

“This is the first time we have caught a human trafficking syndicate in a case where the baby was still in the womb,” the police officer said. Authorities believed the gang bought Vietnamese baby girls for $500 each and boys for $1,000 and sold them for about twice that amount, the police officer said.—AFP