Vietnamese woman arrested for allegedly selling baby

A Vietnamese woman was arrested in Nghe An province for allegedly luring a pregnant neighbor to sell her baby to a buyer in China.

Moong Thi Chanh, 34, has been put under house arrest and is on charges of “organizing and/or coercing other persons to flee abroad,” which is punishable by a maximum penalty of 20 years of imprisonment, VN Express reported.

Moong served as an intermediary for her neighbor Cut Thi An, who thought of crossing the border to sell her baby when she was about eight months pregnant in April. Moong contacted a Vietnamese woman living in China who agreed to buy the infant.

She then took Cut to the Mong Cai border in Quang Ninh province by bus and headed to China. After Cut gave birth to her baby daughter, Moong handed the child to the buyer and received 96 million Dong (US$4,100) for the transaction. The mother was given 70 million Dong (US$3,000) and Moong kept the rest.

Local residents tipped off authorities, which prompted an investigation by police. Statistics indicated that at least 27 pregnant women from Nghe An traveled to China to sell their babies in 2018.