torsdag 17. oktober 2019

Blood smuggling in China: Why pregnant women are breaking the law to find out their babies' sex

Custom officers stopped the middle-aged woman because of her strange, lumbering gait. They searched her and found vials of blood stashed in her bra, according to an official statement. Each one was labeled with a pregnant woman's name from China.

The passenger was crossing Futian port's inspection hall, a border post separating the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen from Hong Kong, on a sweltering Friday in July 2017. Four days later, they intercepted another woman, carrying what appeared to be a heavy backpack, according to the statement. Again, it was full of vials with pregnant women's blood. There were 203 of them, wrapped in plastic bags. Because of the heat, the blood had started to decay. Hong Kong officials say the women were mules who admitted they had been paid 100 to 300 RMB ($14 to $42) to carry the sensitive material over the border.