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AUTHORITIES UNCOVER BABY-SMUGGLING RING
Federal prosecutors in New York have charged three people with running a smuggling ring that transported babies from Mexico to parents in the area that thought they were participating in legal adoptions. Authorities say at least 17 children were illegally brought into the country, at a price of up to $ 22,000 to the adoptive parents. 
The three defendants, two women from Long Island and a lawyer who practices in Agua Prieta, Mexico, are charged with forging birth certificates and parental consent forms, as well as bribery and violations of US immigration laws. They face up to ten years in prison for each child illegally brought to the US. It is not yet known whether the parents of the children voluntarily gave their children up, or sold them. 
The Long Island women have been involved in international adoptions since 1990, and have long been under investigation for running an unlicensed adoption agency. Only these 17 of the more than 500 adoptions they were involved in are under investigation. Federal authorities began investigating the lawyer after a Mexican newspaper revealed that Mexican authorities suspected him of child smuggling and selling body parts.
The government says it will let the children stay with their adoptive parents and will work to legalize their immigration status, but questions for these parents remain. If the child was kidnapped from its parents in Mexico, it may have to be returned.