Horrifying CCTV footage shows human trafficker abducting a child

The woman was seen using a toy to lure the little girl away from her friends. Photo / City Report

This is the terrifying moment a human trafficker spots a girl and tries to abduct her in broad daylight.

CCTV footage captured in China shows a female suspect watching several children playing together near a shop in Pingdingshan, Henan province, around 3pm on Friday.

A few minutes later, the woman uses a toy to lure a little girl away from her group of friends, then calmly carries her away.

The incident was reported to police by the 3-year-old girl's father after he tried to find his daughter, according to City Report.

The woman was seen using a toy to lure the little girl away from her friends. Photo / City Report

Police also received a report from a motorcycle taxi driver who said he was carrying a suspicious passenger, with a girl who "wouldn't stop crying".

"I asked the woman if she was a human trafficker as the little girl she was with just kept crying," the man reportedly told police officers.

"Then I asked the girl if she knew the adult, she replied 'no'," he added.

Police found and arrested the woman two hours later, near the entrance of a highway.

The woman is reportedly deaf-mute and told police, through a sign language interpreter, that someone had paid her 10,000 yuan (about NZ$2000) to abduct children.

The little girl has been returned to her parents safely and police continue to investigate.