Blindfolded and in pain: Chilling details of illegal kidney traffickers revealed
Investigations into an illicit organ harvesting gang in Wuhan reveal chilling details
Authorities have cracked down on an illegal kidney harvesting operation in Hubei province's Wuhan, shedding light on the horrific practices of underground organ traffickers.
“If they’re really carrying out both kidney removal and kidney transplant operations here at the same time, then that’s the first time I’ve heard of such a thing,” said a member of the investigation unit whose identity was not revealed in the Chutian Metropolis Daily report.
After agreeing to surgery, Li met members of the gang at a variety of indiscreet locations. He was eventually shuffled off to a hospital for preliminary examination and then transferred to a secret villa in the Jiangxia district. On his trip to the villa, Li was blindfolded and his mobile phone confiscated. He can only recall fragmented details of his experience.
After investigating various keywords like “kidney” and “kidney selling” on QQ, reporters confirmed Li’s claims the traffickers were soliciting hundreds of potential kidney donors online. The gang’s villa was located after piecing together bits of information that Li was able to recount from the time he spent there, and after monitoring the hideout, the Wuhan Public Security Bureau launched a crackdown.
Chutian Metropolis Daily commentator Xiao Yang wrote in an online statement the existence of such an underground trafficking group was of great concern.
“We attach importance to [whistleblower Li’s claims and our investigation of this story] because we are distressed at the plight of those who must sell their kidneys and angry at the intermediary organisations that lack a proper conscience,” Xiao said. “We are unable to tolerate the illegal selling of human organs and the harm this practice deals to [society].”
The mainland currently outlaws organ donations from living donors other than blood relatives, which has given birth to a lucrative black market. 2007’s “Regulation on Human Organ Transplantation” formally prohibited the illicit sale or purchase of human organs in China, and a national programme was instituted in 2009 to co-ordinate kidney donations from deceased donors. Both efforts, however, have done little to stem the country’s tide of illegal organ harvesters.