Brazilian police arrest 15 people for smuggling children into US
Brazilian federal police have arrested 15 people in seven states, busting a ring smuggling children into the United States, police said on Thursday.

The smugglers, identified as "Stork," have forged the children's documents to get legal Brazilian passports and U.S. visas and bring them to their parents already living illegally in the United States.

They charged between 13,000 and 15,000 U.S. dollars for each child they take out of the country, police officers said.

Most of the "storks" were lawyers or public officials, because their official status would allow them to get U.S. visas more easily.

One of those arrested, military policeman Billy Grahan Pimenta de Mendon, had 12 children falsely registered as his own, including sextuplets.

Police began investigating the group in 2005, and discovered that since 2002, the group had sent nearly 150 people to the United States, mainly children and teenagers.

Arrested gang members will face charges of conspiracy, falsifying documents and smuggling children. If found guilty, they will be sentenced to up to 14 years in jail.