An illegal surrogacy network was discovered yesterday by HCM City Police.— Photo vietnamnet.vn

HCM CITY — An illegal surrogacy network was discovered yesterday by HCM City Police.

The force arrested a Chinese citizen named Cai Guo Lin along with Hoàng Thị Thu Trang from the Central Highlands province of Đắk Lắk, Triệu Thị Hằng from the Central province of Thanh Hoá and Nguyễn Thị Mai Anh from the Northern province of Nam Định to investigate the crime of operating a surrogacy network for commercial purposes, according to the Article 187 of the 2015 Criminal Code.

According to initial findings, in September 2018, Cai Guo Lin went to Việt Nam and met a Chinese doctor named Apo at Thiên Hoà Clinic in Cầu Giấy District, Hà Nội. Apo introduced Guo Lin to Trang, the clinic’s interpreter.

Guo Lin is accused of hiring Trang to hunt for potential surrogate mothers and promised to pay VNĐ5 million (US$215) for each successful deal.

Trang is alleged to have asked Triệu Thị Hằng, to find a surrogate mother. Hằng introduced a woman named NTT to Guo Lin, planning to bring her to Cambodia for the duration of the pregnancy.

Guo Lin is said to have paid Hằng VNĐ100 million ($4,300) and Hằng shared a half with the woman.

In November 2018, Nguyễn Thị Mai Anh introduced Hằng to six other women willing to be surrogate mothers. On December 11, 2018, Guo Lin, Hằng, Trang and Mai Anh brought these surrogate mothers from Hà Nội to HCM City before departing to Cambodia.

When in HCM City, the whole group stayed over at a hotel in District 3. Worried of being trafficked, a woman among these surrogate mothers called her family, asking to report the case.

Thanks to the notification, the city police caught all four suspects.

The network is being further investigated. — VNS