On the afternoon of August 28, Ho Chi Minh City Police held a press conference to provide information on the investigation results of the case of human trafficking under 16 years old, counterfeiting seals and documents of agencies and organizations, and forgery in work occurring in Ho Chi Minh City and provinces and cities across the country.
Regarding the above case, the investigation agency has prosecuted and detained Nguyen Thi Anh Dao, Hoang Thi Nhung (42 years old, residing in Dong Nai province), Do Thi Thuy Ngan (30 years old, residing in Hanoi), Cao Thi Thu Phuong (41 years old, residing in Hai Duong province), Phan Phuong Nam (born in 1989, residing in Dong Nai) and 11 others for the acts of trafficking in people under 16 years old and forging seals and documents of agencies and organizations.
Exposing a newborn trafficking ring disguised as giving away and adopting children
Through the campaign to mobilize the entire population to actively participate in denouncing crimes and the work of monitoring the situation in online groups related to adoption activities, Ho Chi Minh City Police discovered many suspicious information and documents on the sale of newborn babies.
The Board of Directors of Ho Chi Minh City Police Department has directed the establishment of a special project to fight and clarify the case and assigned Major General Mai Hoang – Deputy Director, Head of the Investigation Police Agency as head of the special project, the Criminal Police Department, Tan Binh District Police… as members.
Subjects at the police station. Photo: CACC.
The Special Task Force urgently and resolutely verified, clarified, strictly and thoroughly handled the subjects in the criminal ring; especially, promptly “rescued” newborn babies who were victims of trafficking.
From the documents collected by the detectives, the police raided a hotel in Ward 2, Tan Binh District, and discovered Dao was raising and keeping a 3-day-old baby boy.
Initially, Dao admitted to using fraudulent means to find an adoption due to infertility to contact and adopt the baby boy from Ms. TTTN (residing in Dak Lak province), but in fact, he left him to a couple in Ho Chi Minh City to illegally profit 40 million VND.
Colonel Pham Dinh Ngoc – Head of Criminal Police Department, Ho Chi Minh City Police informed the press.
Authorities handed the child back to his family.
Expanding the investigation, the police determined that this ring was led by Dao, Nhung, Ngan, and Phuong, operating on a large scale in 32 provinces and cities; with the participation and assistance of 6 brokers.
From the beginning of 2024 until now, this group has used closed groups on social networks to contact and connect with women who have just given birth in difficult circumstances and are unable to raise their children to buy 16 children (aged from 3 days to 3 months old) for an amount of 10 million VND – 23 million VND/child.
Then, the subjects resold them for 35 million – 75 million VND/child, illegally profiting hundreds of millions of VND.
“Transform” adopted children into biological children
According to Ho Chi Minh City Police, to legalize the sale of newborn babies under the form of adoption, the subjects colluded with Phan Phuong Nam (born in 1989, residing in Dong Nai province) to order fake birth certificates to legalize the adoption procedures and register the births of the trafficked babies.
Subject Phan Phuong Nam.
Searching Nam’s residence in Bien Hoa City, the police discovered and seized 49 tools and equipment (computers, printers, stamping machines, photocopiers, laminators, ink, various types of seals, various types of blanks…) and thousands of types of fake documents, including many fake birth certificates.
From the fake birth certificates, the police set up 9 working groups to urgently verify 84 cases of newborn babies showing signs of being bought and sold in 32 provinces and cities across the country.
Thereby, promptly detecting and rescuing cases of children who have been bought and sold, handing over, and coordinating with local authorities to protect and provide health care for the victims.
Notably, the police rescued a 20-day-old baby boy who was bought by Vi Thi Anh (born 1986, residing in Son La province) under the guise of adoption to postpone serving her sentence.
Vi Thi Anh is currently awaiting to serve two sentences with a total sentence of more than 12 years and 6 months in prison for illegal drug trafficking.
In just a short time (less than 30 days) since discovering the source of information, Ho Chi Minh City Police successfully dismantled a ring of buying and selling newborn babies, forging documents and papers of agencies and organizations, operating in closed groups on cyberspace.