Chinese state media said that authorities arrested dozens in an alleged child trafficking ring that sold at least 52 babies nationwide.

Xinhua news agency said that 19 boys and 33 girls were bought from impoverished rural families in Shanxi and Hebei provinces in the past two years.

It added that the 42 suspects earned about $60,000 overall from the alleged trafficking.

The ring started crumbling after three men were arrested with a baby boy in their van. The three said they had bought the baby from a woman and her daughter in Hebei.

Xinhua reported that the women had sold 12 other babies to the men, and were arrested.

China has a one-child policy, forcing some parents to sell female babies in order to try for a boy, who are preferred traditionally.

The one-child policy is the population control policy of China. The government refers to it under the official translation of “family planning policy.” It officially restricts the number of children married urban couples can have to one, although it allows exemptions for several cases, including rural couples, ethnic minorities, and parents without any siblings themselves. A spokesperson of the Committee on the One-Child Policy has said that approximately 35.9 percent of China’s population is currently subject to the one-child restriction. The policy does not apply to the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

(article source, CNN: photo source: Acus.org)