A COUPLE have been imprisoned after police uncovered a crime ring involving the smuggling of babies from Morocco into Spain for sale.
The married couple were sentenced to two years prison and fined €3,240 for their involvement in the purchase of a baby from Ceuta.
The Malaga based couple contacted a pregnant woman in Ceuta, who agreed to sell her baby for €3000.
The mother gave birth in a private house in Ceuta and the baby was then handed over to the husband in exchange for the cash.
The case only came to light when it was mentioned in conversation to a police cadet who was visiting Ceuta.
He advised his colleagues and officers were then able to stake out the house and wait until just after the baby’s birth before making the arrests.
The Ceuta court handed down a sentence of a year and a half and a fine of €3,240 for the husband, a six month prison term for the wife and a fine of €135 for the biological mother.
Guardia Civil have managed to trace a total of 28 babies which were brought into Spain from Morocco, mostly via Melilla, and then sold.
Couples would pretend to be the babies’ parents and enter Spain with false documentation before selling them on.
