Alert passenger spots baby traffickers

Netizens helped police catch two human trafficking suspects in Zhengzhou, Henan province, local news portal dzwww.cn reported on Tuesday.

Yin Ning, a resident of Zhengzhou, noticed a woman holding a baby awkwardly on a train from Zhengzhou to Rizhao on Sunday night. Although the train was very hot, the woman had bundled the baby in thick clothes and two blankets.

The woman, of Yi ethnicity, said the baby was hers, but she was feeding the girl cheap drinks rather than baby formula. The baby also appeared to be suffering from serious jaundice, Yin said.

Suspecting the woman was a human trafficker, Yin posted the woman's photo on social media, and it quickly spread online. A netizen contacted police in Feixian county, Shandong province, where the woman with the baby had said they would get off the train.

Police held five suspects. A preliminary investigation found that two of the suspects were assigned to sell the 22-day-old baby girl in Shandong, while three others, of the Yi ethnic group, all pregnant, were to deliver and sell their babies in Shandong.

Two of the suspects have been taken into custody.

The baby is being cared for by a social welfare organization and will be returned to her birth parents when police locate them.

qixin@chinadaily.com.cn