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Police in Henan province's Nanyang city have detained 10 suspects, including alleged ringleader Ye Zengxi, 55. Others include his brother, his son and daughter-in-law. The gang used Ye's 12-year-old nephew, identifed as Ye Xiaoxin by the media, to lure the boys away from their parents' sight with toys or food, and then whisked them away by motorbike. Xiaoxin was caught in the act by a surveillance camera in a commercial building in Henan's Xichuan county. The two-minute footage, broadcast every half-hour by the local TV station to seek the public's help in solving the case, showed Xiaoxin taking away a four-year-old boy. The police offered rewards of up to 50,000 yuan (S$9,900) for leads on the kidnappers and their victims. Investigations showed that most of the abductions happened between 11am and 1pm on weekends and during school holidays, reported news portal Sina.com. The first abduction took place in April last year at the township of Laocheng in Xichuang county, where police later tracked down Xiaoxin and his family of kidnappers. A box filled with toys was seized from the suspects' home. Mr Ma Xuemin, director of the Nanyang Bureau of Public Security, said none of the boys had been mistreated. Each child was sold for 20,000 yuan to farming families, who apparently wanted to raise the boys as their own sons to continue the family lineage, Xinhua cited police as saying. The sum is twice the amount a rural household in the densely populated agricultural province earns in a year. China has a thriving black market in babies who have been kidnapped or bought from poor families for sale to couples who want children. The country's strict family planning policies and the Chinese tradition of favouring boys are seen as major factors behind the child trafficking problem. Baby boys are abducted while baby girls who are not aborted or killed end up being abandoned or sold to child traffickers. About 119 boys are born for every 100 girls - an imbalance which has grown since China introduced the one-child policy more than 25 years ago. The imbalance has created a demand not only for baby boys but also for baby girls destined to be future brides who can attract rich dowries. Around 3,000 cases of women and children being abducted are reported to police each year, according to official statistics. But the actual number of victims is widely believed to be far higher, as many cases are not reported. AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS, REUTERS
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