Ho Chi Minh City court to try duo accused of selling babies for profit

Tran Thi Be Muoi, 37, from Long An Province, and Nguyen Van Thanh, 62, from Ho Chi Minh City, face charges of “buying and selling children under 16.”

Investigations revealed that between March 2023 and July 14, 2023, Muoi and Thanh arranged the illegal adoption of three newborns.

Muoi and Thanh sold one of the infants and were planning to sell the remaining two when police intervened.

In addition, Muoi received two other infants and sold them to adoptive parents for a total of VND80 million (US$3,101), without Thanh’s involvement.

Repeatedly orchestrating child selling

According to case files, the mothers involved were unable to raise their children and sought adoption.

Muoi and Thanh allegedly exploited this situation by accepting newborns from these women with the intent of selling them to others.

One such case involved 37-year-old H., from Tien Giang Province, who gave birth to a boy at District 7 Hospital on April 30, 2023.

Unable to care for the baby and uncertain of the father’s identity due to multiple extramarital affairs, she brought the child to the busy area outside Tu Du Hospital in District 1, the city’s leading maternity hospital, in search of someone willing to adopt.

Muoi, a longtime lottery ticket vendor outside Tu Du Hospital, approached H. and learned she was willing to give up her child in exchange for VND13 million ($504) to pay off debts.

Muoi took H. and her baby to her rented room on Bui Thi Xuan Street, where she handed H. VND13 million ($504) in exchange for the baby and birth certificate.

Muoi then contacted a childless couple from Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands who were seeking to adopt.

On June 14, 2023, the couple visited Muoi’s room to meet the baby.

Muoi, using the name H. as listed on the birth certificate, demanded VND25 million ($970) for the child.

The couple agreed and paid the money before taking the child back to Lam Dong.

In another case, 41-year-old N. from District 4, Ho Chi Minh City, who already had seven children and could not care for them, turned to Thanh to arrange an adoption.

In early April 2023, Muoi arranged a transaction with N. at a café.

Muoi paid N. VND13 million for a boy, with the money transferred through Thanh.

Muoi cared for the child until April 17, 2023, when a couple from Can Tho City, through a referral from a local motorbike driver outside Tu Du Hospital, contacted Muoi about adopting the boy.

Muoi initially requested VND50 million ($1,938), but after negotiation, the price was reduced to VND45 million ($1,744), which the couple paid.

Muoi then shared VND17 million ($659) with Thanh, gave VND4 million ($155) to the intermediary, and kept VND24 million ($930) as profit.

Muoi also facilitated adoptions from other mothers, including a pregnant woman from Tra Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta who was seeking to give up her unborn child for adoption.

She brokered the deal between the mother and a couple from Dong Nai Province, just outside Ho Chi Minh City, for VND50 million.

Authorities have determined that the mothers involved in the case were seeking adoption due to financial or personal difficulties and were not considered perpetrators of human trafficking.

As for the intermediaries, investigators concluded that they acted out of humanitarian motives and did not profit from the transactions, so no charges have been filed against them.