Last but not least: Cheerful baby shopping

The subject of child trafficking is not really very funny - but it is a fact. Reporters from the Sunday Times wanted to uncover the disturbing goings-on and laid a trail: They placed an ad in a Bulgarian forum. "Hello, we would really like to have a baby, maybe two. We are willing to pay whatever it costs."

The bait was swallowed. Not by human traffickers, however, but by the Bulgarian TV station Nova. They discovered the advertisement and sensed a promising story. Reporters were assigned to Heidi and Richie - the supposed English couple - who from then on posed as baby sellers. After various telephone conversations, the parties met in a restaurant in Sofia.

The undercover Sunday Times reporters (above) sat opposite Nova reporter Veronika Dimitrova and her companion (below) - to film each other with hidden cameras.

After minutes of conversation, the alleged human traffickers explained to the supposedly interested parties that buying a baby was also illegal in Bulgaria. Disappointed, the Englishmen ended the meeting. A few days later, they broke up the game of hide-and-seek by email and revealed themselves as reporters. Their Bulgarian colleagues did the same. Hilarious denouement!

However, as Veronika Dimitrova explains in the concluding TV report, the English reporters refused to comment on the baby purchase story on camera. Investigative journalism has its limits somewhere. (hae)

The Nova contribution (with English subtitles):