A mum has lost custody of her two-month-old baby after leaving it at a drug den as a ‘guarantee’ that she would come back and pay her debt.

Footage shows how cops rescued the infant, which had been left by its mother at the drug den in the Brazilian municipality of Pontes e Lacerda on 8th June.

According to the police, the baby’s 28-year-old mother is a drug user and left the newborn in the drug den as a ‘guarantee’ that she would return to pay her debt with the drug dealers.

When the police rescued the baby, it was under the care of two women, who denied it had been left with them as a ‘guarantee’, telling officers the baby’s mum had merely asked them to look after it for a while.

According to the police, both women and the baby’s mum have criminal records for drug trafficking.

The police took the baby to a local child care institution. They also opened a criminal case against its mother for delivering a child to a third party in return for payment or a reward.

Police chief Bruna Caroline Laet said: “In this repulsive situation, the baby’s mother handed it over to a drug house as a guarantee that she would return to pay.

“The child was, in a way, payment for the drugs she bought. In the inquiry, we will investigate the conduct of the mother and of the people who received the baby as payment.”

A local court had actually revoked the woman’s custody of her baby the day before it was rescued, on 7th June, following previous evidence of negligence.

The woman has reportedly been a drug user for five years and has three other children, none of whom are under her care.

Two of her three other children are under the care of people unrelated to her, and the other is in a shelter. The woman also had another child, who died at the age of two.

The authorities also learnt that she had been frequenting drug dens with her newborn and had also left it in the care of her mother, who has heart problems and is therefore also not suited to caring for the child.