Romanian prosecutors have detained an Italian couple for allegedly trying to smuggle a newborn baby out of Romania by claiming she was their child.
Prosecutors said Thursday that 45-year-old Sandra Candelaria Garnero and 57-year-old Giovanni Sparagna made a deal with Romanian Adelina Mihai to give them her baby a month after she was born in the eastern city of Bacau.
Prosecutors say the Italians falsified identity documents, swapping the two women’s names. It was not clear if the Romanian woman was paid.
A court will decide whether to arrest the Italians, who were detained Tuesday at a Romanian border.
International adoptions are banned in Romania, and there have been cases where impoverished women have tried to sell their children to foreigners.
