Thai police are seeking Interpol’s help to track down a Chinese agent for commercial surrogacy services.

The move follows the discovery of three infants, all aged one month, and their surrogate mothers, at a rented house in the Huay Khwang area of Bangkok, which was a favorite area for Chinese tourists before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Thailand in January.

Five suspects were arrested by Thai police, during the raid on the rented house on Wednesday, with two surrogate mothers held as witnesses.

Police said that Thailand’s suspension of air services since March has prevented the surrogate mothers from travelling to China to deliver the babies to whoever hired them as surrogates.

Quoting the witnesses, police said that the Chinese agent, who ran the commercial surrogacy service in Thailand, had recruited 12 Thai women.

All were physically checked before they were taken to Cambodia, where they were implanted with fertilized eggs. Then they were brought back to a rented house, either in Bangkok or in the eastern province of Chon Buri.

When a surrogate mother became pregnant, she would be rewarded with 10,000 baht and then paid 30,000 baht each month until delivery.  If the newborn is a healthy boy, weighing 3Kgs or more, the mother is given a special bonus.

A surrogate mother can earn up to 450,000 baht for each child, said the police.

Pol Lt-Gen Montri Yimyaem, commissioner of Region 2 Provincial Police, said that the Chinese agent they are seeking left Thailand in February.