MOSCOW, November 1 (Itar-Tass) — The officers of the main department of economic security and counteraction to corruption of the Russian Interior Ministry jointly with Chechen policemen busted an organized criminal group, which is suspected of the trade in newborns, the press centre of the Russian Interior Ministry told Itar-Tass on Thursday.
The ministry reported that a 60-year-old Khasavyurt woman, which is a medical worker at the central city hospital, and her 61-year-old accomplice and a mediator in the crimes are suspected of the trade in newborns.
“The medical worker is suspected of searching for a child and providing it for sale abusing her powers and ties. The second accomplice is suspected of the search for buyers and the direct fulfillment of the criminal deals,” the press centre said.
The police noted that the operatives had reported several cases of the trade in children. “In particular, on September 30 in Khasavyurt the deal was exposed over the sale of a little girl aged one year and eight months for 400,000 roubles. A 5-day-old boy, who was brought from the maternity house number one in Makhachkala, was sold for 550,000 roubles a month later, October 30,” the press centre said, noting that “the 61-year-old suspect was detained at the moment of the deal at the restaurant Yellow Sea (in Grozny), later the operatives detained the 60-year-old medical worker at her workplace.”
The criminal files were passed over to the investigative bodies for taking a procedural decision. The search for the parents of the children continues. The officials at several medical institutions in Makhachkala, Derbent and Khasavyurt, who could have been involved in the trade of children, are being searched for.