American Held in Child Trafficking By GLORIA PEREZ .c The Associated Press TOLUCA, Mexico (AP) -- Police have arrested four people -- including an American woman -- in an alleged scheme in which Mexican children were exchanged for money or job offers and then smuggled to the United States. Eight children between the ages of two and 10 were found in a carpentry shop on the outskirts of Mexico City, apparently just before they were to be smuggled across the border, prosecutors said. Four of the children had been handed over to Layla Lewis Sepulveda, 51, of Idaho, by their uncle, Sabino Gonzalez, for $250 each. Lewis Sepulveda, Gonzalez, an accomplice Ocampo Hernandez and one of the mothers, Juana Vilchis Nava, were arrested, police said. Lewis Sepulveda had offered to find jobs for the children's mothers in the United States, said Agustin Montiel, head of the State of Mexico's special anti-crime unit. Gonzalez, who police said confessed, said he was told he would get a $200 bonus for each child once they crossed the U.S. border at Calexico, Calif. None of those arrested have been formally charged. Lewis Sepulveda told a television station that she had legal adoption papers for the children. She denied involvement in child-trafficking. Police said some of the custody documents appeared to be fake. Vilchis, a single mother, said she gave away her three daughters and one son because she was too poor to take care of them. It was unclear whether she received any payment. ``I don't have any way to give my children what they need,'' she said. Four other children -- all siblings -- were given to Lewis Sepulveda by Gonzalez after he convinced their mother, Jovita Ocampo Hernandez, to give them up. Adoption for payment is illegal in Mexico, as is immigrant smuggling. By law, any charges against the suspects must be filed within two days.
