Portuguese couple paid 10 thousand euros per 4-month baby Spanish mother

Um couple of Gondomar, in the district of Porto, will have paid 10 thousand euros for one of the daughters of the Spanish woman arrested for child trafficking on 4 November in Badajoz, in the neighboring country.

According to the Spanish website Hoy, the girl is currently three years old and is about to complete four. 

In 2024, the adoptive parents and biological mother of this child had already been arrested in Portugal, after the case was discovered by the Public Prosecutor (MP). However, the three of them were released after they were brought up as defendants. And the case remains unjudged.

About a year later, the Portuguese authorities found the woman here again trying to sell another baby, a deal they managed to stop in time. The one-year-old also lives in Portugal.

It was these two cases, discovered in the north of the country, according to Hoy, that originated the investigation in Spain, which, last week, culminated with six detainees.

From the false extramarital case to the USF complaint

The case business detected in Portugal in 2024 dates back to 2023. The 42 - and 45 - year - old couple living in Gondomar could not have children. So he contacted the Spanish woman.

Suspects said the family was experiencing financial difficulties. They paid 10,000 euros to keep the 4-month-old girl.

The baby was born in late 2022 and, in March 2023, the couple who bought it made the first attempt to legalize it. They went to a Family Health Unit (FHU) and tried to register the child as part of the family nucleus, with the ‘sorry’ they intended to vaccinate.

They claimed that the girl was born on 26 October 2022 in Badajoz, the fruit of an extramarital case between the man and a Spanish citizen. The FHU did not accept the child, since the couple did not present any identification or proof of fatherhood, adoption or transfer of parental responsibility.

Two months after the first attempt, the couple returned to the same health unit. On this second occasion, they presented documents in which the girl was listed as their daughter, but the date and place of birth were different from what they had said: December 20, in the region of Tras-os-Montes.

The change in information motivated a complaint to the Oporto Judicial Police (JP), which was responsible for the investigation.

After questioning the parents, the agents requested DNA tests from the baby and the two adults. The tests confirmed that the child was not the biological daughter of any of them. And the investigation revealed that the birth certificate was fraudulent.

The couple had obtained witnesses who claimed that the woman had given birth, although this never happened. He even had a medical document attesting to the false birth.

The destiny of the girl

When judicial police inspectors discovered fraud in March 2024, the girl was taken away from the couple who had bought it and placed it in the custody of the Portuguese authorities. And yet, according to Hoy, adopted by another family.

The couple were arrested and questioned at the Court of Criminal Investigation (ICT) of Porto, but is free. Until the trial, which has not yet been scheduled, both have yet to report weekly to the nearest police station. According to the Spanish newspaper, the man has a criminal record for theft and theft.

Detained (and released) twice in Portugal

In March 2024, the Portuguese authorities also tried to stop the child's mother, but failed to locate her. The Portuguese courts issued search warrants and DNA collection, but failed to execute them because their whereabouts were unknown.

Probably the woman would have returned to Spain. A few months later, in December 2024, she entered Portugal and was arrested. The first judicial interrogation was present, but the judge eventually released her, forbidding her from just approaching her daughter and leaving Portugal.

Apparently, the woman didn't keep the deal. He returned to Spain and had another son, a boy. In July 2025, he reentered Portugal with the baby of only a few months old and tried to sell it. But the police stopped her. She was located, detained, and she lost the baby.

However, even with this second case she was not detained. The Spanish ended up freed as the investigation continued.

In the meantime, the Portuguese authorities contacted the Spanish counterparts and asked for cooperation in the case. The National Police and the Civil Guard identified the mother and recovered the other four children of the woman, who also did not live with her: they were with relatives and in foster homes.

The Spanish woman was arrested again. This time, in the country of origin, she was not released. On Wednesday, November 4, in addition to it, five other people were arrested because they suspected of setting up a child trafficking network.

Six detainees. Would a woman be forced to get pregnant and sell children?

In Badajoz two women and one man were arrested, while in Montijo the main suspect and his current companion were arrested. In Linares, a man was arrested, with whom one of the minors resides.

The woman and three other people are still in custody, the remaining two suspects being released.

Last week, the leader of the Extremadura government, María Teresa Macías, indicated that the possibility of the woman being forced by the group to “have children to sell them” is, in addition to other issues, being “object of investigation” by the authorities. On this path, he called for “prudence” until the diligence was completed.