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Tel Aviv:
Israeli police have detained 10 members of an international crime
ring suspected of organ trafficking and illegal transplant
surgeries, said an Israeli law enforcement source.
"The data that we have received indicates that an organ
trafficking network that involved Israeli citizens has been
operating here [in Israel], the source said.
"The suspects sought out donors who experienced financial
difficulties and convinced them to sell their organs without
warning of possible consequences and side effects, and without
proper post-surgery treatment," he added.
Though the names of the arrested suspects had not been made public
yet, Moshe Harel, the kingpin of the trafficking ring, could be
among them.
Harel had been sought for years by Kosovo authorities for his
alleged involvement in organ trafficking and illegal transplant
surgeries at a clinic in the Kosovo capital, Pristina, in 2008.
According to investigation, at least 30 illegal kidney removals
and transplants were carried out in the clinic.
The donors were from poor eastern European and Central Asian
countries, including Russia, Moldova and Kazakhstan. They were
promised about 15,000 euros ($19,000) to become organ donors. The
organs were later re-sold for between 80,000 and 100,000 euros
($100,000-$125,000).
The clinic was raided in 2008 after a Turkish man collapsed at
Pristina airport while waiting for a flight to Istanbul after
having his kidney removed.
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