STANIMIR VAGLENOV
Iraklion- Sofia  

Another four Bulgarians had been arrested on Tuesday in Greece while trying to sell babies to disguised policemen, pretended to be childless families.
We are talking about 40-years old man and 20-years old woman in child-birth who had wanted to sell a 10-day old baby for 20 000 EURO. The two others are 43-years old Bulgarian and 23-years old woman.  
Both Bulgarian couples had been arrested in Piraeus, where they had arrived from Crete. There is no information about a connection between the two couples, but all of them had lived in the chief town of Crete - Iraklion.
On 4 December the Greece police announced they had arrested some Bulgarians accused of being part of a channel for trade with babies. They are caught in Hania, the second largest city in Crete.  The police at that time inform they had arrested three Bulgarians and they are searching for one more, who had managed to escape. 
"Firstly we arrested the leader of the group - a woman, her 18-years old son, and the mother of the baby a 22-years old woman. We caught the last one on the next day - the husband of the ringleader of the band a 52-years old man.", major Stilianos Artsidakis, chief of the police in Hania announced yesterday for "24 hours" daily. 
He told that the Bulgarians had been watched by the police who managed to get in touch with the ringleader of the band and to negotiate with her the purchase of a three months old baby girl
for 12 thousands EURO. 
The disguised policemen have given six thousands EURO tagged bills and in that very moment all Bulgarians had been arrested.
The action had happened in a small park in Hania city centre, nearby "Regina" cinema. According to the Greek legislation the police can not announce the names of none of the arrested Bulgarians yet - this will happen as late as they will be convicted.
Using its own information channels "24 hours" daily found out that the family responsible for the baby sale in Hania comes from Kameno village, Bourgas region. 
During the last three months the same band has managed to sell two more babies. The police investigate what happened with these children. Accusations are brought against the perpetrators for violation of under-aged child adoption legislation. 
The organizers of the deal can receive from 5 to 10 jail sentence, but the woman in child-birth is menaced with a year and a half behind bars and 1500 EURO fine.
"There is a pick of adoptions of Bulgarian children in Crete.", a social worker from the island wanted to remain anonymous, announced for "24 hours" daily. According to him the total number of adoptions in the last 10 months is equal to the number of the adoptions for the three past years. 
Why exactly
Bulgarian children
In Crete the number of childless families is relatively big because of the closed society. Until a little while ago many Romanian girls had been adopted, but as the adoption from foreigners in Romania had been prohibited, the interest is transferred entirely to the Bulgarians.      
The image of the fellows from our country in the island is as black-haired and dark swarthy - just like the majority of the population in Crete. This is the reason why they like our babies.
In fact in the most of the cases this business is controlled by gypsies.
"Yes, for the most part gypsies and Muslims participate in the shady affairs, but not in the last deal in Hania", the police chief announced.
The business with adoptions in Crete is entirely under the control of the Bulgarians, a source from the special services in the island declared. There is an agreement among the emigrant communities presented in the island, he claims: Romanians hold the business with forged passports and working visas and permits, but the Albanians - the drug market and the business with prostitutes. 
In the business with the selling of babies, participate not only Bulgarian citizens but also local lawyers, a doctor and state employees along the whole adoption chain.
The island police have started a big investigation of all adoptions implemented during the last year. This however will take a little effect, because the deals are well formed from juridical point of view and if the perpetrators are not kept in the very moment of the paying, it is almost impossible to be arrested. The baby-girls cost 13 000 EURO, but the baby-boys are 2000 EURO more expensive.        

Major Stilianos Artzidakis:

The pregnant girls come
a month before the childbirth

STANIMIR VAGLENOV

- Mr. Artzidakis, could you describe the model of the trade with babies?
- The Bulgarian here set in touch with childless families in Crete and
negotiate the sell of the baby. After that using their contacts in Bulgaria they start to search for women ready to give a birth of a baby and to sell it. It is impossible a woman with a child to come to Greece, without the child to be registered at the border. That is why they send the pregnant girls to Greece a month before the childbirth.     
- Do they pass the border easily?
- At the Greek-Bulgarian border the authorities are very careful about the
admittance of woman in advanced pregnancy; more often the women pass through Austria, and from there make a transfer to Italy. They enter in Crete from Italy without a problem taking the ferryboat. The organizers lodge them in rented houses until the moment of the birth. More often they give birth in the state hospitals in the island.
- I was told that more frequently they use private hospitals, because the
  owners of these institutions do not alarm the police if they doubt about an
  illegal adoption.   
- Yes, but in the private hospitals the childbirth is expensive, but at the 
  public ones it is free of charge. All the same they do this guided just from
  their material interest.
- Tell us more about the case in Hania.
- As you know, I can not mention names, but I can confirm that indeed the
  organizer of the deals is a 50-years-old woman. This is the reason why she    
  is still in the prison together with the woman in child-birth. We let out   
  the son and the husband of the "boss", after they paid the guarantee.    
  The mother of the baby soon will be set free and will return to Bulgaria.
- How many are the Bulgarians in Crete and do they provoke other kind of
  problems?
- According to the non-official statistics the number of the legally sojourned    
Bulgarian emigrants in Crete vary between 2000 and 3000, but their total number remains unknown. Except the cases with the babies we do not have other serious problems with the Bulgarians.
- Do you think that "the business" with the babies is an affair of the
  organized criminality?
- We still do not have data about a connection between the particular cases  
  and an organization that is supposed to control the business. Here such a     
  thing is difficult to happen. However we have to bear in mind that the
  investigation is in the very beginning.
- If the participants in the deal can not be arrested in the moment of the
  payment, the adoptions seem completely legal, isn't it?
- We are investigating all the adoptions from the last few months and maybe
  some interesting facts will be revealed. But if we miss the moment of the       
  payment, as we made here in Hania, it is really very difficult to prove the      
  fact that the baby has been sold.           

PUBLISHED AT 10 DECEMBER 2004

1 milion EURO profit from 50 sold
Bulgarian babies in Crete
for an year

Childless families probably has paid
even more, people from the island are involved

STANIMIR VAGLENOV
Iraklion- Sofia

At least 50 Bulgarian babies are adopted in Crete just in 2004.
This is the official information from the social services.
In the chief town of Crete - Iraklion 39 adoptions out of 42 are of Bulgarian babies. In the second large city Hania the situation is the same - 11 adoptions out of 17 are of Bulgarian babies. For sure there are more cases in the smaller settlements in the island. Is difficult to say in how many of these cases an illegal payment had been made, the investigation continues.
According to the police sources the process most probably has started with separate cases, until somebody had smelled the shady affair and turned the adoption process into a business. If the price for a child varies from 15 to 20 thousands EURO this could mean that only in Crete in 2004 for Bulgarian babies has been paid over 1 million EURO.
In the beginning of the week in Iraklion have arrived policemen from Athens. They investigate the case with the sale of the babies after the arrest of the two Bulgarian couples in Piraeus. They have tried to sell their babies but have fallen in policemen under cover. Both of the arrested couples - Bulgarian gypsies - have lived in Iraklion. The investigation has started a year ago, but the first arrests are made in the last few months. In the end of 2003 the police receive information that Bulgarians in the island are preparing a net for "delivery" of pregnant women, childbirth in local hospitals and sale of the babies to childless families.
The cops have watched the process for a long time in order to reveal all participants including state employee, lowers and doctors.
The state hospitals and social services have been warned to be very careful during adoption of Bulgarian babies.
Meanwhile information about the investigation ran out and the organizers of the criminal affair have started to avoid the state hospitals. Using the private clinics they had to pay more and the adoption itself has become more expensive. But this is the way they ensure their discretion.   
At the end of April in a region south from Hania, not far away from Paliohora, the police arrest three Bulgarians. It seems that the pregnant woman had been kept against her will in a house by the two others. They have persuaded her to sell her baby to a family in Crete. In this case no accusation was brought.  
In October in Iraklion the police take into custody 3 Bulgarians while trying to sell a three-month old baby for 5000 EURO to a policeman under cover. The organizers as well as the mother are still under arrest.
A week before three other Bulgarians are arrested in Greece because they wanted to sell the not born baby of the under aged Paraskeva Vasileva. The pregnant girl had been kept against her will into a lodging, where she managed to escape on 15 October.   
Paraskeva gets in touch with the police in Athens and based on the information she gives to the authorities Bogdan Kondov, Emilia Mihailova and Marin Mihailov are arrested.
Why the adoption
becomes a business 
The adoption procedure in Greece is extremely complicated and bureaucratic. In addition the time needed for finalization of the procedure varies between 5 and 6 years. That is why the people prefer to buy a child from foreigners who have renounced it.
It is early to say if the scheme has been controlled by the Bulgarian organized criminality. It's a fact that channels for transferring of pregnant women through Austria and Italy in order to facilitate their admittance into Greece. This is a well known plan used also by the Bulgarian mafia structures for human traffic and mostly while they transfer women for prostitution. 
"I do not believe this is a one man deed, neither a mafia deed. Rather somebody has realized he can make good money out of it with a support of local lawyers and state employees. After that other people started to deal with this affair and as a result of this expansion the police got the wind of the affair.", Napoleon Sarantidis chief of "Kidon" TV channel says. After the noise made about this business, the organizers will move their activity to other part of Greece. Bulgarian society has a good image in Crete, especially compared with the Albanians. A month ago in Iraklion a Bulgarian is arrested for prostitution. There are no other registered criminal acts with participation of our countrymen.
"I do not believe the whole plan to be organized only by Greeks, but for sure residents from the island had help Bulgarians to sell the babies, there is no other way. The Bulgarians do not speak Greek well, they are not familiar with the situation - somebody has to helped them to find customers.", Sarantidis says.
Formally the adoptions in Crete are legal, because there are no other payments caught out, except during the last arrests where policemen under cover participated in the raids. The mothers have renounced their children, but the court entitled the parents' rights to Crete's families.
Athens has spent approximately 205 millions EURO for fight against the human traffic and the nets for prostitution. Baby sells
is a crime that can be sentenced up to ten years in prison
for the organizers and 1.5 years and a fine for the mother and the buyers.     
According to "24 hours" daily reliable source, a 50-years old arrested Bulgarian from Kameno village, Bourgas region, who already organized the sale of at least three babies, has begun to speak before the court. She has announced the names of Greek citizens who have assisted her business.
Except in Greece, Bulgarian babies can be bought also in France, Italy and Portugal. Most of the mothers are gipsy women originated from the regions of Pazardjik, Peshtera, Sliven and Bourgas town, data from border police show.  
In the different countries the price of the little Bulgarians varies. The average price in France for instance is 5-6 thousands EURO, in Greece during the last arrest in Piraeus the price has reached 20 000 EURO. Most probably the price has risen because of the bigger risk recently.

PUBLISHED AT 14 DECEMBER 2004

Why I bought
A Bulgarian baby

A men of means pay thousands of EURO, facing the fear to stay alone in their old age  

STANIMIR VAGLENOV
Iraklion- Sofia

Maris T. is a 47-years-old and she holds a high post in Crete island. She has a perfect carrier and she also has wonderful relations with her husband. But there is something that overshadows the idyll of the well-to-do couple - they can not have children. 
They agree to speak on condition that their names, posts and address, as well as the sex of their child will not be revealed. 
Maria works in the filed of health protection and already has tried all means of conception, but with no success. The only option available for the family is to adopt a child, but in Greece the orphans are too little. Even if there is any available, the adoption process is too complicated and nerve-racking, it last from 5 to 8 years, and in most of the cases all the efforts turn out to be spend in vain.
In the mean time, Maria's husband is going on for 60 years -
the allowed age limit for an adoptive father. Soon they will lose any hope. One day their family lawyer hints at them: "Why don you take a Bulgarian baby, it is very fashionable!"
Maria had heard before for adoption of babies from foreigners, but she never had paid attention. Her high post does not allow her to take any illegal steps, because she knows the practice to be paid for the babies.     
The lawyer manages quickly to convince her, that if this plan is not 100 percent legal it is for sure moral. "You know, they are starving there, but here the child will have a real life, will become a businessman, a doctor, a writer, whatever he or she wants!"
A few days later, a time spent in reflection, Maria and her husband decide to take the risk instead to accept the opportunity to stay alone until the end of their life. The lawyer contacts some of his colleagues from the island connected with local immigrants. In Maria's case they are from Kameno village, Bourgas region. They already had helped other childless families in Crete. Each deal is for 14 000 EURO. Up to 2003 this kind of business
is under the control of    
Romanians and Albanians
From 2001 to 2003 there are in total 42 adoptions in the chief town Irakrion, data from the local social services show. 36 from these children are from Albania and Romania and only 3 are Bulgarians.
At the end of 2003 there is a redistribution of the illegal activities between the criminal groups acting in the island. The Romanians take the monopoly under the manufacturing of work permits, the Albanians enter into the drug market and the prostitution. For Bulgarians, remains the field of the paid adoptions where they show a fast progress.
Just for ten month-period in 2004 there are as many adoptions, as for the three past years in total. Out of 43 adopted children in Iraklion 39 are Bulgarians. "We are sure, most of these adoptions are paid ones, but it is difficult to prove it, when we do not catch them on the spot when the payment is made.", an officer from the services in the island says.   
The baby incubators
in Bulgaria
in Peshtera, Kameno, Bourgas region, Aytos, Provadia, Pazardjik, Sliven and other cities start "to produce".  
"Most of the cases, we've already caught out are gipsy and Moslem babies, but there are also children from ethnic Bulgarian parents", chief of the police in Hania, major Stilianos Artzidakis, says.
Maria's family has paid the lawyer firstly in advance, an amount reported as "consulting activity". The consultants give part of the money at hand to Bulgarian middle men in Crete and they transfer the money to the gipsy ghetto. This money provides the welfare of the mother during her pregnancy in order to give a birth to a healthy baby. Maria and her husband had chosen between two ways to receive a child. At the beginning the offer was to pay directly to a gynecologist in the local hospital, who will deliver the child and to list it as a still-born. For 5000 EURO he had been ready to register Maria as the biological mother of the child.  
The family though assesses the situation as too risky and prefers the second option. The husband
had made a child to the Bulgarian woman - this is the reason why he travels to Bulgaria - to justify his future fatherhood. Months later the mother he never saw, comes to Crete in advanced pregnancy.
After the woman gives a birth to the baby in a local hospital, the husband declares he is the father. Maria gulps "the unfaithfulness" of his husband and agrees to accept in her family the child born as a result of her his extramarital relations.    
The fraud can come to light with a genetic test, but the practice is such test not to be made when the father owns the child. According the provisions of the low the social services in Crete is obliged to investigate the adoptions.
But mother disappears
right after the childbirth.
At the hospital, by chance, is missed to be written down the exact biographical record of the woman-in-child-birth.   
It is marked just a name with no data about the address - information that could help the woman to be traced. As a result, the social services warned about the future illegal intentions of the adopters, have no chance to find her and to check the facts.
Before to disappear without a trace, the mother and the adopters go to a notary office, the official registers the adoption, while the two parties declare their will.    
Not longer than 6 months later, according to the provisions of the Greek legislation, the case for parental rights is down for hearing in the local court. The baby has to have at least 3 months in order to start the procedure.
After mother's disappearance the hospital takes care for her baby, but "the father" has the right to visit his child, including accompanied by his wife. 
In the court social services representative presents the case with a report saying that the mother had not been interrogated, because she had not been found. She herself appears on the day the case is down for hearing and declares she renounces her child.
As the problem with the missing information from the report prepared for the case is not through adopter's fault, usually the court entitle parents rights even at its first session. After that they pay the rest of the price for the baby using the service of the lawyer's office as each one of the participants involved in the affair receive its share of the money.
Under article 10 from the Adoption legislation in Greece, came into force in 1996, the sentence that threatens the perpetrators of such crimes is 18 months in prison and a 1500 EURO fee for the mother and the adopters, if they are caught in the spot of the illegal deal. The middle men could receive 5 years in prison for one deal and up to 10 years if they turned the adoptions their business.

During the last three months the same band has managed to sell two more babies. The police investigate what happened with these children. Accusations are brought against the perpetrators for violation of under-aged child adoption legislation.