Bulgarian Baby Trafficker Suspects Held In Germany: Prosecutors

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Bulgarian baby trafficker suspects held in Germany: prosecutors

German police have tracked down and arrested a Bulgarian couple accused of taking pregnant women to Greece in order to sell their babies there, Bulgarian prosecutors said on Wednesday

Sofia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 5th May, 2021 ) :German police have tracked down and arrested a Bulgarian couple accused of taking pregnant women to Greece in order to sell their babies there, Bulgarian prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The Bulgarians were detained in the town of Neunkirchen in western Germany last week on a European arrest warrant after being indicted in February for "participation in an organised crime group for trade in newborn babies on the territory of Greece", prosecutors said in a statement.

The couple's son, who was also indicted on the same count, is already under arrest in Bulgaria.

The three were accused of recruiting pregnant women from across Bulgaria to travel to neighbouring Greece to give birth and sell their newborn babies to intermediaries there for between 5,000 and 7,000 leva (2,500-3,500 Euros, $3,000-4,300).

Prosecutors say that the group has been active since 2015 and that so far at least nine cases of poor women who sold their babies through the ring have been established.

The Greek partners of the gang are suspected to be part of an international baby trafficking network, it added.

Bulgaria is still awaiting the extradition of the couple but if found guilty they risk jail sentences of between five and 15 years.

Cases of "baby selling" have been particularly prevalent among Bulgaria's poor Roma minority in recent years.

Greece became a common destination for the practice because previous stringent conditions for adoption encouraged many parents to seek out illegal alternatives instead.

Although the waiting time for an adoption in Greece was reduced by a 2018 law, the illegal networks nevertheless persist, with mothers usually getting a fraction of the proceeds and the bigger chunk being pocketed by the traffickers.