Greece busts Bulgarian baby trafficking ring

ATHENS - Greek police have arrested 10 people in the act of selling a 20-day old Bulgarian girl to a Greek couple, the third such baby-trafficking ring busted this month, officials said on Tuesday.

Police detained six Bulgarians and four Greeks, including the couple, in a central Athens park, where the couple was about to pay around 15,000 euro ($30,229.74) for the infant.

The arrests come as Bulgaria, Greece's poor northern neighbour, struggles to prove it is ready to join the European Union next January by cracking down on human trafficking and other types of organised crime.

Among those detained was a Greek lawyer who would provide the Greek couple documents showing they had legally adopted the girl, police said.

Two other Bulgarian women carrying a one-month old boy were also arrested. Police believe the second baby was going to be sold to Greeks as well.

"They are all being questioned at the moment and we will increase our effort to fight such rings," an Athens police official told Reuters.

Police in both countries say organised gangs extend loans at high rates to impoverished women in Bulgaria. They then force them to have babies and give them up for adoption when their families cannot pay the loans back.

Earlier this month, Greek police arrested five Bulgarians in the central town of Volos as they tried to sell a 40-day old baby. Police also arrested several other people after discovering four pregnant Bulgarians in a shabby apartment in central Greece.

In February, Bulgarian police arrested six people for forcing 13 soon-to-be-mothers into giving up their children.

In many cases, labour was induced early to cut costs and the mothers were often forced to work after giving birth to pay for their stay in Greece, police said.

Brussels has warned Bulgaria it will delay accession until 2008 if it does not crack down on powerful organised crime groups and high level graft.

- REUTERS