To evade detection by authorities, baby trafficking gangs bring expectant mothers to where the buyers live rather than travel with an infant, which could arouse suspicion amid ongoing crackdown on baby-trafficking gangs.

The expectant mothers are made to stay in pig farms where they give birth. In the process, the mothers' health are neglected. Compounding this is that most of Chinese women selling their babies are drug addicts, which results in many babies sold having birth defects.

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One such baby is Mingming, a boy, who was sold for 70,000 yuan or $11,300. However, three months after his birth, Mingming was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, reports China.org.

Mingming is one of the 64 babies rescued by cops in six Chinese provinces this week. The operations led to the arrest of 171 suspects, reports Beijing Times.

Female babies sold for 50,000 yuan. After the birth of the babies, the gang buys a birth certificate at 4,000 yuan.

The baby trade is flourishing in China despite the country already bursting to the seams with a population of 1.3 billion people. It is because of the one-child policy which has resulted in higher preference for male children and abortion or lesser preference for female infants.

In 2013, police rescued 52,000 children kidnapped by child-trafficking groups.

In January, 37 babies and a three-year-old girl was rescued in Shandong province. Most of the rescued were suffering from various ailments such as AIDS/HIV and were malnourished, according to CNN. The selling price ranged from 50,000 to 80,000 yuan or from $8,000 to $12,000.

The malnutrition was because most of the time, the babies for sale were only given instant noodles or leftover vegetables.

In the January operations, authorities arrested 103 people who either trafficked or bought the babies. The gang was busted after police noticed a group of pregnant women entering an abandoned factory in Jining. When the plant was raided, the police found nappies and other evidence that it was used as a hidden delivery room. After the babies were born, they were transported in large handbags and suitcases during the delivery to the buyers to avoid detection.

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