Police in eastern Pakistan said that they had busted an illegal organ harvesting ring and arrested eight persons suspected of performing illegal surgical procedures on hundreds of patients to harvest kidneys. The gang reportedly sells the organ to affluent individuals in need of a transplant.
Illegal Kidney Harvesting
The chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, Mohsin Naqvi, revealed that the suspected gang leader, identified as "Dr. Fawad," had performed 328 kidney removal surgeries and sold the organs to customers for up to 10 million Pakistani rupees ($34,000), as reported by CNN.
According to Naqvi, an unknown car technician helped Fawad throughout the surgery by administering the anesthesia. He said the gang operated privately in the Taxila area, Lahore, and Pakistan-administered Kashmir by luring patients away from hospitals.
"They were able to do this in Kashmir because there is no law regarding kidney transplant, so it was easier for them to carry out the operations there," the chief minister stated.
Naqvi added that three fatalities have been confirmed. However, officials are currently verifying the information. "There must be more operations that must have been carried out, the number is the only ones we've confirmed."
Naqvi said that Fawad had been arrested five times already. But each time he was freed, he was able to go on with his business as usual.
Apparently, a few of the individuals whose organs were extracted were unaware that their kidneys had been removed.
After a man said he was persuaded by one of the suspected gang members to have medical procedures done privately, police spent almost two months studying the case. When the man sought more medical attention from another hospital, he was informed that he lost a kidney.
Trading of Human Organs
To prevent the online promotion of illicit kidney transplants, Naqvi has said that he is collaborating with the Inspector General of Police of Punjab to tighten the country's cyber laws. The investigation is also geared toward monitoring similar groups.
In 2007, Pakistan outlawed the commercial trading of human organs. In 2010, new legislation increased the penalties for organ harvesting and trafficking to ten years in jail and a fine of up to 1 million rupees ($3,400).
Prior to the law, Pakistan was a hub for foreigners and well-off Pakistanis seeking organ transplants. It was common practice for poor local people to sell their kidneys for cash.
But as residents of the nation scramble to make ends meet amid low salaries and lax law enforcement, organ trafficking has increased.
According to BBC, Punjab police broke up another organ trafficking network in January when a missing 14-year-old child was discovered in an underground laboratory with his kidney removed.
