Seven Charged in Kosovo Organ-Trafficking Ring

[cory777]

Source: New York Times

PRAGUE — At least seven people have been charged with participating in an international organ-trafficking network based in Kosovo that sold kidneys and other organs from impoverished victims for up to $200,000 to patients from as far away as Israel and Canada, police and senior European Union officials said Monday.

According to the indictment, the traffickers lured people from slums in Istanbul, Moscow, Moldova and Kazakhstan with promises of up to $20,000 for their organs. Law enforcement officials say many never received a cent. The operations were performed at a private clinic in a run-down neighborhood on the outskirts of Pristina, the Kosovar capital.

While the ring was first discovered two years ago, the global scale of the network and its victims is only now becoming clear.

Officials said the ringleader was a highly regarded surgeon and professor at Pristina University Hospital, Dr. Lutfi Dervishi. The clinic was run by his son, Arban. Also charged was Ilir Rrecaj, a senior official in Kosovo’s Health Ministry when the ring was broken. They and two others are accused of crimes including trafficking in humans and body parts, unlawful medical activity, participating in organized crime, and abuse of office. All were released on bail.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/world/europe/16kosovo.html

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News that Matters http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/world/europe/16kosovo.html

[HEyHEY]

1. Who woulda guessed organ traffickers were so unseemly?

[KT2000]

2. Bet this is the tip of the iceberg

There are plenty of horror stories in poor countries.
The free market kids want to make sale of organs legal in the US. One nut rationalized that our population would be healthier because people would want their organs to be chosen and therfore lead healthier lives.