Your baby is dead, lied doctors who sold newborn babies

MEXICO CITY - Three doctors and a nurse have been arrested for allegedly selling newborn babies after telling mothers that their children had died at a private hospital here, said the authorities on Wednesday.

The police uncovered the scam after one of the women found out her baby was alive and had been sold to another woman for US$1,130 ($1,580), said Mr Luis Genaro, the capital's deputy attorney-general.

The woman gave birth to a girl through Caesarean section at a hospital in a working-class district in October last year.

She said she had heard her baby cry but was later told her baby died and had been cremated.

The mother learned the truth from an email sent to her by a man believed to be the son of the hospital director.

The woman accused of buying the newborn child has been arrested. Three doctors, a nurse and a receptionist from the hospital are also in custody.

The police believe that the group sold several newborn babies but have not yet determined how many.

This year, the US State Department described Mexico as "a large source, transit and destination country" for human trafficking. Many victims are undocumented migrants, and women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation, according to a 2009 Trafficking in Persons report.