Woman detained for trying to smuggle six-day-old baby onto flight in hand luggage

Officials to charge her with child trafficking

The woman was caught at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Getty Images)

An American woman is being held in the Philippines after she was caught trying to smuggle a six-day-old baby onto a flight in her hand luggage.

The 43-year-old was preparing to board a plane bound for the US at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila when agents at terminal 3 discovered the infant in her oversized bag.

The woman claimed she was the child’s aunt, but could provide no documentation to prove any familial connection, nor a passport for the child, reports CNN.

“The infant was hidden in the oversized belt bag and (she) did not declare nor present to the immigration inspector during departure formalities,” said the Bureau of Immigration.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Division of the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation has taken over the case; it’s thought the woman will be charged with child trafficking.

The baby boy is now in the care of the Social Welfare Department, according to Immigration Port Operations Division chief, Grifton Medina.

It’s not the first time an infant has been smuggled in a bag.

A toddler was found hidden in the hand baggage of a female passenger onboard an Istanbul to Paris flight in March 2016.

Another passenger saw something wriggling in the bag and tipped off cabin crew. They asked the woman to open the bag and found the child.

Air France confirmed the incident but said they could not give further details. French authorities said that the woman had been arrested upon arrival at Charles de Gaulle airport.

They said it was not yet clear whether the child and the woman were related. One possibility under investigation is that the child was being smuggled to Europe by an illegal adoption ring.