According to Israeli press, police arrested six men in northern Israel Tuesday, in a crack-down on illegal human organ trafficking. Police had launched an investigation after receiving a number of complaints from people who had responded to a newspaper ad saying respondents would be paid $100,000 for a kidney. The respondents participated, giving up a kidney in surgery completed out of Israel, but when they returned home, they were not paid.
The investigation culminated in a raid which resulted in the arrests of an Israeli reserve Brigadier General along with two lawyers. Police said they uncovered a large operation at work in Israel, one that takes advantage of people experiencing kidney problems as well as people with financial difficulties. The traffickers are charging donees around $120,000 for a kidney, and while they promise organ donors $100,000, they are only paying a fraction of the money promised, if they receive any payment at all.
Israel only allows voluntary organ donations, having ended the system of payments for organs in 2008 in a bid to end organ trafficking. Donors are taken out of Israel for surgery, and some donors are suffering the effects of substandard surgery.
The arrested Brigadier General is 62 year old Meir Zamir, who received a medal for valour for his actions in the Yom Kippur war. It is not known what charges the six men were arrested on.
Police said the organ traffickers were making millions from their scheme. Israel has been a home for organ traffickers for years, although the trade is now widespread around the world.
The United Nations estimates that between 3,400 to 6,800 kidney transplants each year are from forced transplants, but say that estimate is likely low.
In 2009, the FBI smashed an American-run organ trafficking ring in New Jersey that included several Rabbis. 44 people were arrested in the sting operation. The high profile New Jersey bust included several mayors and two assemblymen: Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, state Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith and state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt.
