Court orders arrest of gay couple suspected of buying baby for R$500 in rural Amazonas
17 de July de 2025
By Jadson Lima – From Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – The Amazonas State Court (TJAM) ordered, on Tuesday, the 15th, the preventive detention of José Uberlane Pinheiro de Magalhães, Weslley Fabiano Lourenço, and Luiz Armando dos Santos, on suspicion of being part of a human trafficking scheme for the purpose of illegal adoption. The three are under investigation by the Amazonas Civil Police (PC-AM) after negotiating the sale of a newborn baby for R$500 in Manacapuru (AM), located 69 kilometers from Manaus.
Weslley Fabiano Lourenço and Luiz Armando dos Santos are a couple living in the state of São Paulo. The two are suspected of attempting to purchase the baby, who was born at Cecília Cabral Maternity Hospital in the municipality. According to the investigation, the third suspect, José Uberlane, acted as the facilitator of the scheme.
The ruling, signed by Judge Careen Aguiar Fernandes of the Court of Guarantees – Investigations Division (Interior), states that the detention of the suspects is necessary “due to indications of the possibility of flight or repeated criminal conduct by the accused.” The magistrate also noted that releasing the suspects would pose a risk to public order, the progress of the investigation, and the future application of criminal law.
“For all these reasons, the precautionary measures other than imprisonment, as set forth in Article 319 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, are deemed insufficient at this time and cannot replace, in this case, the precautionary detention of the suspects, which is essential, particularly for the progress of the investigation and to safeguard the criminal proceedings,” reads an excerpt from the decision. See below:
Judge Careen Aguiar also wrote that the suspects took advantage of the mother’s condition of extreme vulnerability. So far, she is believed to have received the meager sum of R$500 to “give up” her own newborn child, violating the rights of both, but especially of the defenseless baby.
Caught in the act
The couple was arrested in flagrante delicto during a PC-AM operation carried out in the parking lot of the maternity hospital on Friday, the 11th. Delegate Joyce Coelho, from the Specialized Police Station of Manacapuru, told the press that the team received an anonymous tip via messaging app, along with an image of a vehicle circulating through the city with two men inside.
The message stated that the men were negotiating the purchase of a newborn at the public maternity hospital in the municipality. “Based on that information, I instructed the team to carry out the necessary investigations and contacted the Guardianship Council to accompany us. At the hospital, there were four mothers who had given birth that day. After speaking with the nurses, we identified the 31-year-old mother of the baby,” said the police official.
