Greek police blasted league which sold children

Greek police have blown up a league suspected of making money from illegal adoptions and egg trading.

The league, which is supposed to have been led by a Greek lawyer and a gynecologist, is believed to have paid pregnant women in Bulgaria upwards of SEK 50,000 to hand over their children to childless Greek couples, reports the news agency AP.

The pregnant women were taken from Bulgaria to Greece to give birth to their children in private hospitals and then leave them.

In total, 66 people of different nationalities have been prosecuted. Among them are staff from clinics and the biological mothers, writes Greek CNN.

Police suspect the league sold at least 22 children and 24 eggs from Bulgarian, Russian and Georgian women. In addition, about ten women who were taken to Greece received money to be surrogate mothers between 2016 and 2019.

The women gave birth at private clinics where it is easier to falsify documents, according to Bulgarian BNT.

To illegally adopt one of the children cost between SEK 270,000 and SEK 300,000. According to both CNN and Bulgarian media, the price varied depending on the child's gender and "other characteristics". The league earned at least SEK 5 million on the trade and washed the money by buying luxury goods and real estate.

The police have been on the track for months and Antonis Tzitzis, Thessaloniki police chief, says it is believed to be one of the "biggest and most well-organized" in Europe.