Police Target Human Organ Transplant Gang

Police in Brazil have arrested 11 people suspected of being part of an international human organ trafficking organisation.

The group, allegedly led by Israelis, is thought to have stretched from South America to South Africa.

Traffickers are accused of scouring the towns of Brazil's Pernambuco state over the past year searching for candidates willing to sell their kidneys.

"In all, they managed to talk 30 men into selling one of their kidneys," said Wilson Salles Damazio, head of the Federal Police in the state capital of Recife. "Each one received between £3,500 and £6,000."

Mr Damazio said an investigation is being conducted to determine the full extent of the trafficking.

"Those that passed a thorough medical check-up were sent to Durban, South Africa, where their kidney was extracted," Mr Damazio said. "After a brief recovery period they were flow back to Brazil."

Mr Damazio said the Israelis and the nine Brazilians could be sentenced to up to 15 years in jail.

Police say the 30 men who sold their kidneys could also sentenced to up to eight years in jail because both selling and buying human organs is illegal.

Copyright © 2003 Ananova Ltd.

This article posted January 10, 2004.