Whoa, big?

https://m.timesofindia.com/india/300-kids-sold-to-us-buyers-at-rs-45l-each-kingpin-held/articleshow/65417558.cms

300 kids sold to US buyers at Rs 45L each; kingpin held

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police arrested the kingpin of an international child trafficking racket that allegedly sent at least 300 children from India to the US. Rajubhai Gamlewala aka Rajubhai, a Gujarat resident, started the racket in 2007 and would charge Rs 45 lakh for each child from his US-based clients. The fate of the trafficked children is not yet clear. Some members of the racket were arrested in March.

The children, aged 11-16, came from poor families, usually in Gujarat. “Finding it difficult to take care of them, their parents or guardians would sell them,” said a police officer. Police said after receiving an order from clients in the US, Gamlewala, 50, would instruct his gang to find a poor family, usually in Gujarat, willing to sell a child. They would also find families willing to rent out their children’s passports. A passport with a picture with some resemblance to the child would then be selected.

The gang would then pay a carrier to take the child to the US. Before that, makeup would be applied on the child for a stronger resemblance with the picture on the passport. After the carrier returned from the US, the passport would be returned to the original holder. It is unclear how the passport would be stamped by immigration without its bearer’s presence, the police said.