Spanish couple arrested in Wales for allegedly ‘buying’ a six-week old baby

A Spanish couple and a Romanian mother were arrested in Cardiff on Thursday October 15 after allegedly organising the sale of a baby boy.

The mother, 19, was supposedly ready to sell her son to the Spanish man, 25 and his partner, 26, for up to £11,000 (€14,950). 

The man is reported to be legally named as the boy’s father on a registration form. The child’s paternity is being verified now with DNA tests.

South Wales police confirmed the arrests and said that the three have now been released on bail and added that “the six-week old baby boy is safe and well and remains in the care of the local authority.”

The boy is said to have been born in Zamora in Spain. Police in Spain opened an investigation after the Romanian woman told them that the boy died when he was 15 days old after an emergency operation in Wales.

The child was found in Cardiff and is now with authorities as investigations continue. The Spanish couple who are living in Cardiff are suspected of offering to pay the woman to take the baby.  

A spokesman for the National Police in Spain said that “the investigation began when the mother of a baby had told a police officer her 15 day old son had died in the UK during an emergency operation.”

“Police doubted the version of events the mother gave and began trying to clarify what had happened,” he added.