Malaysia busts child trafficking syndicate

Malaysian police said on Friday they have broken up a child trafficking syndicate and rescued 21 children and babies.

By (AFP)

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Published: Fri 22 Feb 2013, 5:41 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 3:33 PM

Police in the northern state of Penang said they arrested 43 suspects, at least 20 of them women, in a nationwide operation which began late last December.

“The babies and children were aged between a month and nine years,” Penang police chief Rahim Hanafi said in a statement on the force’s Facebook page.

Reports also cited him as saying in an earlier press conference that police made raids Thursday night in six states and the capital Kuala Lumpur.

“We are also working closely with Interpol on a few of the children believed to have been taken to neighbouring countries,” The Star newspaper quoted Rahim as saying.

Malaysian police have in recent years broken up several other child trafficking syndicates, nabbing Malaysians and Indonesians who bought children from poor women and sold them on for as much as $6,000.

The suspects face jail terms of between three to 20 years.


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