Child trafficking probe saves 2,169 kids

SPURRED by high profits, an underground industry in child trafficking has formed in China, extending to kidnapping, transportation and sales, police said.

Police cracked 4,840 cases and rescued 2,169 children by last week in a national clampdown on child trafficking since April, state television station CCTV reported yesterday.

Some trafficking networks involve hundreds of members, mostly women, according to Ma Ning, captain of the criminal squad of Kunming City police's Guandu branch in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The children are usually taken to a new city within half an hour of being snatched, and then sold to others to make it difficult for their parents and police to trace them, he said.

Some children are sold for adoption by childless parents and some are trained as beggars or prostitutes, he said.

Most victims are children of migrant workers living in suburban areas where security is often poor and parents are too busy working to take care of their children, the report said.

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