Baby-for-sale racket: 21 pregnant women rescued

KUALA LUMPUR: A baby-for-sale racket, believed to be responsible for the sale of more than 50 newborns in the past five years, was crippled in a police operation in Rawang and Selayang on Monday.
A 54-year-old woman, who led the syndicate and sought clients for the babies, was detained in the operation at 12pm.
The raiding party, made up of Bukit Aman's anti-human trafficking unit officers, members of the elite special task force on organised crimes and the Welfare Department, also rescued a day-old baby girl and 21 women, aged between 14 and 39 – all pregnant and living in crammed conditions at the two premises run by the suspect in Taman Tasik Puteri, Rawang and Kampung Nakhoda, Selayang.
The suspect was believed to have operated two unlicensed "halfway homes" for single mothers-to-be who had either fled home or been abandoned by their families or partners.
The women would stay at the suspect's premises until they delivered their babies.
Investigations showed the babies were sold for RM9,500 each to childless couples. The price tag covered compensation for the mother of the child, maintenance costs, medical and hospitalisation bills and administration fees, which included birth certificates.
Couples keen on buying a baby were allowed to choose any of the pregnant women under the suspect's care and book their infants for RM4,000.
On delivering a baby, the child is handed over to the purchasers after they had settled the rest of the payment.
The syndicate is said to have been operating for over five years and sold more than 50 babies to childless couples.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar commended members of the operation who had for weeks carried out surveillance at the premises before launching the raid.