Hanoi - Police in Vietnam have arrested three people accused of smuggling newborn babies, a policeman said Monday. Hoang Duc Hien, 60, Thuan Thi Hoa, 47, and Nguyen Thi Thinh, 42, were arrested Sunday as they were trying to bring three babies across the border to China, according to Hoang Quoc Dinh, director of Hoan Kiem Police Station in Hanoi.
Earlier, the three had bought a one-week-old baby from a woman in northern Ha Tay province for 3 million dong (187 dollars) and another baby from a woman in the southern province of Bac Lieu province for 8 million dong (500 dollars), according to the Vietnam News Agency.
The newspaper also said that the three were taking with them another baby when they were arrested.
"Further investigation is underway and we cannot say anything more about the case now," said Hoang Quoc Dinh, director of the police station of Hoan Kiem district in Hanoi.
"The children smuggling situation in Vietnam is now very complicated," said Nguyen Dinh Thiet, head of the Children Department under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
Thiet said most of the smuggled Vietnamese children are taken to China, Cambodia and even to Britain.
