Features of national kidnapping: Why children are stolen in China
China is a relatively safe country. Even walking through the evening streets and parks, you are unlikely to meet aggressive gopnik or armed robbers. Most of all, pickpockets and other criminal trifles annoy residents and guests of the country. But it is necessary to clarify that it is safe for adults in the Middle Kingdom, but it is worth seriously fearing for the child. The abduction of children in the country has long been a real problem and the situation is only getting worse over the years.
To understand how serious the problem is for China, it is worth referring to statistics. According to official data, about 20,000 children disappear in the country every year, which is 400 abductions per week. Moreover, they steal not only babies, but also elementary school students and even teenagers.
Malefactors kidnap children for sale to childless families, for prostitution or just slave labor. Sometimes criminals mutilate their victims and force them to engage in begging. In recent years, another type of criminal business has appeared, the most profitable - kidnapping for the removal of organs for transplantation.
The price of boys in the slave market of the country is almost twice as high as girls and is about 100 thousand yuan (913 thousand rubles). This is due to the fact that in old age he will be able to feed his family. For the Chinese, this moment is very important, since pensions in the country are provided only for state employees.
The problem of kidnapping in the Middle Kingdom has existed for a long time, since the 80s of the last century. The reason for the demand for children lay in the state policy "one-family one child". Children, especially boys, have become a real shortage and a real hunt has begun for them in the cities and villages of China.
For several decades, illegal business has developed and strengthened so much that even now, after the lifting of restrictions, it continues to flourish. For criminal groups and individual attackers, this is easy money. A child is easy to steal and easy to sell to interested people. Children are defenseless, and in a huge densely populated country it is difficult to find even a missing adult, let alone a baby.
Criminals use a variety of methods and tricks, but most often they just grab a child on the street in an armful, push him into a car and take him away. A child who is being looked after by a grandmother or grandfather is also at risk. Often it is simply snatched from the hands of a gawking old man and he is unable to catch up with the kidnappers.
Even newborns are stolen in maternity hospitals, while often employees of a medical institution are involved in such abductions. Older children are lured to secluded places and put to sleep with drugs or medicines. There are many cases of abduction of young Chinese from home. In this case, they can even break down the door, while taking the most valuable thing in any home - a child.
Children are being stolen not only in China itself, but also in Taiwan. But the Chinese province of Henan, located in the central part of the country, enjoys the worst reputation in this regard. Official data say that crimes are most often committed there, and among the kidnappers detained in different regions of China, the most, for some reason, are Henan.
We represent criminals who are engaged in kidnapping by such masked thugs in powerful cars, but this is not so. The most productive kidnapper in the entire foreseeable history of China was a 70-year-old grandmother from Henan, who has more than a hundred children on her account.
A harmless-looking old woman approached the kids on the street and treated them to sweets with a drug, and then simply took them by the hand to her accomplices, who took away and hid the kidnapped child. The sight of a grandmother leading a sleepy baby by the hand did not arouse anyone's suspicions, so the woman worked in this field for a long time and effectively.
Unfortunately, when parents discover the loss of their child, the villains with their victim are already far away. The chance of a successful outcome in such situations is melting by the minute. The fact that the Chinese police, according to the current law, starts searching no earlier than a day after the disappearance does not contribute to the effectiveness of the search.
Corruption also contributes – the mafia, which deals with kidnappings, gets along well with law enforcement officers and the police are often financially interested in making the search unsuccessful. The usual bureaucratic red tape gives criminals time to take the victim to another city and even hand over the child to the customer of the theft.
Kidnappings are fought in a variety of ways. Kindergartens are surrounded by high fences studded with video cameras, apartments and households are equipped with "smart" security systems, and the wealthiest Chinese even hire security guards. In a word, for a resident of China, a child is not only happiness and pleasant troubles, but also constant fear for his safety.
Abductions of people, including children, are not only a problem in China. In many countries of the world there are criminal groups specializing in this terrible business.