Azernews.Az

BAKU – A criminal group arranging transplant surgeries in Azerbaijan for further sale of body organs has been detained in Ukraine, Russian RIA Novosti news agency quoted a Ukrainian law enforcement official as saying.

The group, which includes citizens of Ukraine and Israel, is headed by an Israeli national, Yuri Kucher, who heads the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s department combating human trafficking and cyber-crime, told the press Thursday.

According to Kucher, the outlaws had long been taking citizens of Belarus, Moldova, Russia, Uzbekistan and Ukraine to Azerbaijan and Ecuador, and arranging for surgeries to remove their body parts for transplants. Wealthy recipients of the organs who were mainly from Israel paid $100,000 to $200,000 for such transplants. Doctors were being paid $15,000 to $20,000 per operation.

Most of the people drawn to the illegal activities through the internet were youths aged 18-25, who were offered to sell their kidneys for $10,000. 50 donors have been identified, with most of them being low-income persons, Kucher said.

A criminal case has been launched on charges of human trafficking. During the investigation searches were conducted in doctors’ homes and $200,000 were found in one of the households.

12 Ukrainian nationals have been detained over the case, including citizens of other countries.