Chinese network accused of stealing thousands of corpses to use bones for dental grafts
- Prosecutors in Shanxi investigate allegations that more than 4,000 bodies were taken from crematoriums and medical laboratories
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Chinese gang accused of stealing thousands of corpses for use in dental bone grafts
A Chinese company has been accused of stealing more than 4,000 bodies from crematoriums and medical laboratories to use their bones for dental grafts.
The case caused widespread public anger after a well-known criminal lawyer published details of the case on social media on Thursday.
Yi Shenghua, president of Beijing Brave Lawyers – also known as Beijing Yongzhe Law Firm – said police in Taiyuan, capital of the northern province of Shanxi, were investigating allegations that the bones were being used to produce allogeneic bone grafts, which are usually made using bones removed during surgery.
A spokesman for the Taiyuan procuratorate confirmed that prosecutors were investigating allegations that a crime ring was “stealing and reselling corpses for profit”, when contacted on Thursday.
But he declined to reveal more details, only saying the investigation still needed more time as the case was “rather complicated”.
Yi told Shanghai-based news portal Thepaper.cn that the evidence, marked as “prosecution opinion”, had been passed to him by an “insider” and was “authentic”. His office did not answer when telephoned for comment.