April 8 2010
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, — The Israeli police said Wednesday it arrested a senior military officer leading a human organ trafficking ring that deals with other gangs in Europe active in this kind of crimes, noting that the officer is involved in this scandal with other five Israelis.
The police added that this gang was discovered after they defrauded a Palestinian woman from Al-Nasser city and stole one of her kidneys taking advantage of her need for money, which prompted her to file a complaint that led to the arrest of the officer, two lawyers and Israeli citizens.
Haaretz newspaper reported that the woman underwent medical examinations to ensure a match, and she was then flown to a country in eastern Europe where they extracted her kidney.
The woman said that when she returned to the occupied Palestinian lands, she did not receive the money promised to her.
Police investigations indicated that this ring hunts their victims through internet and newspaper advertisements and sells one kidney for about $120,000 in European countries.
Similar crimes about human organ harvesting were reported worldwide last year including a report prepared by Swedish journalist Donald Bostrom accusing Israel of stealing human organs from thousands of Palestinian victims it has killed since 1960 especially during the first Palestinian Intifada (uprising).
US human rights activist T. West posted a video tape on Youtube website accusing Israeli soldiers participating in relief operations in Haiti of stealing organs from victims of the earthquake.
He revealed that staff at the Israeli ministry of war entered Haiti at the pretext of helping the quake-affected people in order to steal human organs.
An FBI sting in New Jersey also exposed last year an organ trafficking ring including Israeli rabbis that operated for more than a decade. Source
Police smash Israeli organ-trafficking ring
A retired army brigadier general is among six suspects arrested by Israeli police investigating an organ-trafficking ring, police say.
The organisation offered as much as $100,000 (£65,600) for kidneys, which were transplanted by doctors in poor countries, a sting operation uncovered.
Police said they had been “shocked” by the extent of the smuggling ring.
Retired Gen Meir Zamir, arrested in connection with the trafficking, won a medal of valour in the Yom Kippur War.
‘Dream come true’
The trafficking ring came to light after a 50-year-old woman from Nazareth came to police.
We ran an undercover investigation and we were shocked by the proportions of this
She told them she was flown to Azerbaijan where doctors removed her kidney.
On her return to Israel she was expecting to be given $100,000, but she never received the money.
Another 18-year-old man complained to police after he was offered $80,000 and flown to the Philippines to have the operation.
“We ran an undercover investigation and we were shocked by the proportions of this,” Police Superintendent Ahron Galor told Ynet News.
“We learned there are many people willing to sell a kidney for just £10,000. These are people who have severe financial difficulties, for whom such a sum is a dream come true.”
Forging documents
The traffickers advertised online, suggesting there was another solution for people who had been waiting for kidney transplants for years.
They offered the kidneys for sale for $140,000.
As well as Gen Zamir, two lawyers were among those arrested in the sting operation.
The lawyers are suspected of forging documents which said the recipient and donor were related.
Police said members of the ring tried to cover their tracks by hiding the Israeli medical records of the donors.
This made it hard for donors to be treated if they became sick following the surgery. Source
I guess Israel had to admit to Organ theft yet again. Well this is just one there are of course more. They just haven’t been found yet.
If One kidney is worth $120,000 you can be sure there are many more, who traffic organs.
Related
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Butchers: The hidden truth about Israel’s kidney theft ring
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