Chinese Police Save Hundreds of Babies from Online Trading Racket
Summary:
Chinese police shut down four child-trafficking rings and and arrested thousands in connection with people using websites and instant messages to buy and sell babies. The operation took placed over a six-month period in Beijing and Jiangsu in Eastern China. After investigating the police uncovered a virtual black market that holds forums that connects traffickers and potential buyers. Child trafficking has become a major concern in China because of a growing demand for healthy babies from potential adoptive parents in China and foreign places. A Chinese doctor received a suspended death sentence after trafficking babies into an online ring. The obstetrician convinced the babies parent's that the newborns were sick and should be given up so that they could be taken care of.
Analysis:
The article highlights another example of modern day slavery. A new sector of organized crime has emerged, the trafficking of babies online. This incident comes about as a result of globalization. Due to the connectivity of our modern would you no longer have to meet someone face to face to traffic, the criminals can solicit and sell their product (a healthy human baby) to someone on the other side of the world. Potential buyers can purchase a baby from other parts of the world using one click of a mouse. An complication that comes along with the trade being on online forums it makes it more difficult to track down the trafficker. The demand for healthy babies fuels this lucrative business and with these new forums for trafficking I believe the organization of the crime is evolving faster than what the police can keep up and will continue to be a social problem.
Article:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/28/world/asia/china-online-baby-trafficking-crackdown/
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