13.06 Man Detained Over Online Ad to Sell Son, Harvest Organs

Russian police have detained a 25-year-old on suspicion that he offered to sell his infant son over the Internet for 800,000 rubles ($25,000) in order to spite his soon-to-be ex-wife, with whom he was engaged in a bitter custody battle, police said Thursday.

Investigators said in a statement that although the man had apparently not lived with the family since the birth of his son a year and eight months ago, his wife informed them that he was demanding custody of the boy and constantly sending her threatening and offensive text messages.

When a classified ad offering the child for sale and noting the possibility of harvesting his organs appeared on a popular website for residents of the southern city of Astrakhan, police were inundated with calls from locals wanting to find whoever posted it, the investigators� statement said.