Mother arrested after newborn baby girl found decapitated and dumped in bin bags

A woman has been arrested following a major police investigation that was launched in the wake of a horrific discovery at a waste and recycling tip, where workers found the dismembered body parts of a newborn baby.

The remains of a baby girl were found in several bin bags at the Loeches rubbish plant in Madrid in December, causing police to scour the site with sniffer dogs to locate the rest of the brutally murdered infant.

In the wake of the tragic discovery, the country's Civil Guard launched 'Operation Natal' in an effort to track down the killer and "get justice" for the slain baby girl.

Investigators tracked the several bin bags found containing the baby's remains to a specific area of the Spanish capital, the Vallecas neighbourhood. They also carried out DNA tests that identified the child's Latin American ancestry and pointed to the mother being around 40 years of age.

READ MORE: Two teenagers arrested after 38-year-old dad stabbed to death

READ MORE: Donald Trump's 'devastating' bill passed by Senate GOP as warning issued to Americans

On Tuesday, Spanish police arrested an Ecuadorian woman in Madrid, with officers seen searching her home in the Vallecas area. The suspect, who has not been named, was described locally as a married woman with children, according to Sun reports.

The arrest comes over seven months after recycling workers made the awful find while working at the Loeches rubbish plant and the police launched their lengthy 'Operation Natal'.

However, news of the baby's brutal murder only broke last week, when the Civil Guard launched an appeal for information from the public.

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."