10 Americans Arrested in Haiti on Child Smuggling Charges

Haitian police detained ten Americans attempting to bus 33 children across the border into the Dominican Republic, allegedly without proper documentation. Members of an Baptist church in Idaho called it a Haitian Orphan Rescue Mission, and aimed to save abandoned children from the chaos overtaking Haiti following the devastating earthquake there nearly two weeks ago.

The group's plan was to round up 100 children and take them by bus to a rented hotel at a beach resort in the Dominican Republica, where they then planned to establish an orphanage.

Government leaders have suspended adoptions amidst fears that parentless or lost children are more vulnerable than ever to child trafficking.

According to the group's leader, Laura Silsby, they had only the best intentions. She said they paid no money for the children, which she said they obtained from a well-known Haitian pastor named Jean Sanbil of the Sharing Jesus Ministries.

Authorities chided Silsby, 40, asking her if she didn't consider it naive to cross the border without adoption papers when Haitians are concerned about child trafficking. She answered, "By no means are we any part of that. That's exactly what we are trying to combat."

The Americans are being held at the judicial police headquarters pending a hearing tomorrow before a judge. Social Affairs Minister Yves Cristallin told reporters that the Americans were suspected of participating in an illegal adoption scheme.