A South African woman is facing charges of human trafficking after allegedly trying to sell a toddler on the listings website Gumtree.
Baby for sale online
The 20-year-old woman was caught after police were alerted to the advert and an agent posed as a buyer, according to a police spokesman.
"Someone alerted us to the advert. We made contact with the young lady and met with her undercover on Tuesday," Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi told the BBC.
"We had told her that we would make the cash transaction she asked for. We arrested her as soon as we met with her," he said.
The woman's initial Gumtree advert was immediately flagged and removed by the site, before the second was posted under the heading "baby car seat" in the Baby and Kids sale section.
The 19-month-old boy has been handed over to social workers.
The woman appeared in the Pietermaritzburg magistrates court on Friday, charged with trafficking, but was not asked to plead. The case was postponed to allow for more investigation, and the woman will remain in custody until the case continues on 26 October.