Mother arrested after newborn baby found dead in several bin bags

A woman has been taken into custody after a major police probe was initiated due to the gruesome discovery of a newborn baby girl's dismembered remains at a waste and recycling centre.

Workers at the Loeches rubbish facility in Madrid were horrified to uncover the body parts of an infant girl scattered across several bin bags in December, prompting an extensive search with sniffer dogs for the rest of the brutally slain child.

Following the harrowing find, Spain's Civil Guard commenced 'Operation Natal' with the aim of apprehending the perpetrator and securing "get justice" for the murdered baby girl.

The investigation led detectives to trace the bin bags containing the infant's remains back to a particular district of Madrid, Vallecas, and DNA testing revealed the child's Latin American heritage and suggested her mother was approximately 40 years old.

On Tuesday, Spanish authorities arrested an Ecuadorian woman in Madrid, with law enforcement officers seen searching her residence in Vallecas.

The detained individual, whose identity has not been released, has been identified by locals as a married mother with children, according to Sun reports.

This arrest occurred more than seven months after workers discovered the harrowing remains at the Loeches rubbish site, which sparked the Civil Guard's extensive 'Operation Natal'.

However, it was only last week that the news of the infant's brutal murder came to light when the Civil Guard issued a public plea for information.

They urged anyone with information about a woman around 40 who had been pregnant last year to come forward, while also detailing that the baby was born alive before suffering a '"violent death."

"The investigations are still open, which is why citizen collaboration is requested for the total clarification of the criminal act. Anyone who could have any information of interest on the matter, contact the Civil Guard," said a spokesman.

"From the investigations carried out so far, it has been possible to determine that the remains would correspond to a female baby and that she was born alive, there are indications that would point to her death being of a violent nature."