The police arrested a Chinese citizen named Cai Guo Lin along with Hoang Thi Thu Trang from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak, Trieu Thi Hang from the central province of Thanh Hoa and Nguyen Thi Mai Anh from the northern province of Nam Dinh 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 went to Vietnam and met a Chinese doctor named Apo at Thien Hoa Clinic in Cau Giay district of Hanoi. Apo introduced Cai to Trang, the clinic’s interpreter.
Cai is accused of hiring Trang to hunt for potential surrogate mothers and promised to pay 5 million VND (215 USD) for each successful deal.
Trang is alleged to have asked Hang, to find a surrogate mother. Hang introduced a woman named NTT to Cai, planning to bring her to Cambodia for the duration of the pregnancy.
Cai is said to have paid Hang 100 million VND (4,300 USD) and Hang shared a half with the woman.
In November 2018, Mai Anh introduced Hang to six other women willing to be surrogate mothers. On December 11, 2018, Cai, Hang, Trang and Mai Anh brought these surrogate mothers from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh 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.
