"An abduction, not an adoption"

Ten Americans apparently involved in trafficking Haitian children for the purposes of adoption:

Haitian police were holding 10 US citizens late Saturday on suspicion they tried to slip out of the country with 31 Haitian children in a trafficking scheme, a government minister said.

Haitian Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin said the police arrested five men and five women with US passports, and two Haitians, as they tried to cross into the Dominican Republic with the children Friday night.

He said two pastors were also involved, one in Haiti and one in Atlanta, Georgia.

"This is an abduction, not an adoption," said Christallin.

Christallin said the US citizens did not have the proper documents to take the children out of Haiti, nor letters of authorization from their parents.

The children were aged two months to 12 years and had come from different places, he said.

"What is important for us in Haiti is that a child needs to have an authorization from this ministry to leave the country," he said.

As if Haiti didn't have enough to worry about. As if trafficking for the sex trade and slavery isn't enough to worry about. Now they have to worry about vigilante pastors who know far better than everyone else what to do for the children of Haiti. Sigh.

P.S. As I should have expected, Bastardette has a whole lot more details and promises even more.

P.P.S. This blog has a roundup of other trafficking stories out of Haiti.