Man investigated for brokering sale of newborns to China

Cut Van Nga, 31, from Nghe An Province in central Vietnam, is being investigated for "organizing for others to flee abroad," police stated Wednesday.

Investigators said Nga had met a Vietnamese woman living in China via social media app WeChat last April. The latter told him to lure pregnant mothers to China where their newborns would be sold, earning him a potential 7,000 yuan ($1,041) per infant.

Nga subsequently tricked four heavily-pregnant ethnic minority women from Tuong Duong and Ky Son districts in Nghe An to sell their newborns for VND70 million ($3,012) in China. Desperate for money, both had agreed to the proposal.

On October 5, Nga took the four to a motel in Cao Loc District of Lang Son Province on the border with China.

A day later, a driver picked the five up and lead them into China via a small trail. However, the group got caught by patrolling police officers.

Nga was arrested while the driver escaped. The four pregnant women were taken to a social welfare center.

In recent years, police have busted numerous trafficking rings delivering pregnant women to China to sell their newborns. China suffers from one of the worst gender imbalance rates in the world due to its former one-child policy, leading to illicit abortions of female fetuses by parents wanting male heirs.

This has led to rising kidnappings and trafficking of Vietnamese women and baby girls, and now, newborns.