Black market dealings: Police bust gang involved in human organ trade

Suspects made millions purchasing organs from the poor and selling them to needy patients

ISLAMABAD/ KARACHI: Islamabad police have unearthed a gang involved in illegal trade of human organs. Police said on Monday that they had arrested one member of the gang who was active in the illegal trade taking place at some private hospitals in the capital. The gang was making millions from this illicit activity.

The issue came to the light when a man who had paid the gang Rs2 million approached the police with a complaint. The complainant, a resident of Bahawalpur, said he was looking for a kidney transplant for his younger brother whose kidneys had failed. He came to know about a man, named Salman, who transplanted kidneys in Islamabad and contacted him.

Salman invited him to meet the doctors at a hotel at Khanna Pul where the complainant met one Doctor Aamir, Abid Nawaz and five other unidentified men and two ladies.

The deal to arrange and transplant kidneys for the patient was finalised in Rs2 million and the complainant paid the suspects Rs1 million on the spot. Later, the gang said they would transplant the kidneys when a donor is arranged and reportedly also threatened the patient’s family not to tell anyone about the deal.

The victim however approached the police on Sunday saying the suspects were neither performing the transplant nor were they returning the amount.

The police registered a fraud and illegal organs trade against the suspects and launched an investigation.

Officer Ihsanullah, who is investigating the case, said they had arrested Salman while the rest of the suspects were still at large. The officer said as per preliminary findings the gang would pay around Rs200,000 to poor people in return for their kidneys which they would sell on for around Rs2 million to Rs3 million to patients who needed a transplant.

He said doctors were also part of the racket and operations were conducted at a private hospital near Khanna Pul. The police checked the hotel record and cameras where the gang had met the complainant and the allegation was confirmed.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2018.