Police on Tuesday arrested 10 people on suspicion of running a human organ
trafficking ring.
The traffickers are accused of matching poor kidney
donors with those requiring urgent transplants, before pocketing most of the
profits and failing to pass them on to donors – despite promising them financial
rewards.
“This ring exploited the distress of people – both donors and
those who needed organs,” a police spokesman said. Suspects allegedly found
donors suffering from financial difficulties and lured them into giving up their
kidneys.
“The suspects failed to tell them about the medical risks,
including side effects and complications, [and failed to arrange] for medical
care after the procedure,” the spokesman added.
Some of the operations
allegedly occurred in Kosovo and Azerbaijan.
The arrests followed an
undercover investigation the Lahav 433 national police unit launched over
several months in conjunction with the Tax Authority.
It is part of a
wider police effort to prevent the illegal trafficking of organs from live
donors.
The investigation began after foreign police forces contacted the
Israel Police with intelligence about the network and its activities abroad, and
sought out Israeli assistance in taking down the ring.
All suspects will
appear at the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court Wednesday morning for a remand
hearing, on accusations of tax offenses and of causing grievous bodily harm.