Woman who smuggled baby in hand luggage charged with child trafficking

Woman held baby in sling bag close to her body

An American woman who tried to smuggle a six-day-old baby through airport security in her hand luggage has been charged with human trafficking.

Jennifer Talbot, from Ohio, was stopped at immigration at Ninoy Aquino International airport in Manila, Philippines, when agents at terminal three asked about the contents of her oversized sling bag.

The 43-year-old was preparing to board a plane bound for the US.

Talbot did not have a passport or any travel documentation for the child.

CCTV footage from inside airport security shows Talbot taking off the sling bag and holding the baby close to her body.

Talbot is alleged to have given a consent form for the baby boy, but it was not signed by his mother.

“[Talbot] passed through the immigration counter without declaring the baby so, you know, they did not see [the] baby because she was carrying the baby in a sling bag,” said Manny Dimaano, of the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), during a news conference on Thursday, as reported by ABC News.

“They did not notice or they were surprised when they learned that a baby was inside the sling bag.

“Based on the instructions on the bag, it should be carried in front and the head of the baby should be in an upright position so you could see the baby but then it was not carried that way so there was really an intention to conceal and to sneak out the baby, and that is why she was able to pass through the security.”

The baby is now in the care of social services in Manila.