(Hanoi, 11th) In a coordinated cross-provincial operation, Vietnamese police have dismantled a large-scale illegal cross-border surrogacy ring led by Chinese nationals, rescuing 11 infants and arresting multiple suspects, including three Chinese citizens.
According to a notification from the Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security on the 8th, the ring was headed by a man surnamed Wang, with members spread across several countries. They used social media and false identities to engage in commercial surrogacy, recruiting Vietnamese women in financial difficulty, and sending some to China or Cambodia for embryo implantation before returning home to await childbirth. Each surrogate was paid 300 to 400 million Vietnamese Dong per pregnancy.
On July 15, police raided multiple locations and the youngest of the rescued infants was only 9 days old. An initial investigation revealed that two key Vietnamese female suspects, Guo Thi Huong and Pham Thi Hoai Thu, handled approximately 60 and 40 surrogacy cases respectively, assisting with medical checkups, deliveries, documentation, and border exit procedures.
To evade detection, ring members lived in scattered luxury apartments and frequently changed locations. Police emphasized that Vietnam only allows non-commercial surrogacy, and convictions involving money transactions can carry sentences of up to five years.