Surrogate pregnancies have been on the rise in Peru, and there are considerable amounts of money involved.

Back in March 2008 Peruvian police found and broke up one of the largest baby surrogacy cartels.

Segundo Guevara, who led the group that captured the cartel, says illegal groups who offer surrogate mothers have been on the rise in recent years.

Guevara says the increased activity is explained by its highly lucrative nature.

He said a surrogate usually charges between 10 thousand and 30 thousand dollars per child.

“Clients are generally foreigners who cannot have children," he said to Peru21.

In some cases the surrogate mother travels to a country where surrogacy is legal, in order to deliver the baby, he said. 

"During the operation we conducted in 2008, we found three laptops containing the names of some 80 women who were offering their wombs,” said Guevara.