ORGAN TRAFFICKERS ARRESTED IN ISRAEL

Israeli police arrested six men suspected of trafficking organs in northern Israel Tuesday, Haaretz reports.  And IDF brigadier-general and two lawyers number among the suspects. 

Police conducted their investigation through the Department for Fraud and Misappropriation in northern Israel. They began the investigation following a complaint from a 50-year-old Nazareth resident.  The woman said she replied to an Arabic ad looking for a kidney in exchange for $100,000.

The woman went through with the operation, first undergoing a medical exam to ensure a match and then being flown to Eastern Europe for the operation to extract her kidney.  However, when she returned, the woman says she never received payment.  Police report her complaint is not the first of its kind.

During the investigation, the police say they uncovered a far-reaching, well-organizing organ trafficking ring, including "organ traffickers, agents, and lawyers" in its midsts.  A police official said of their findings:

"The ring is operating throughout Israel and not only in the north, and appeals to the public through local media and internet... The organ traffickers somehow receive details about potential transplant candidates and they offer them their services."

 The investigation found that traffickers usually charge $120,000 for kidney transplant, and the donors end up swindled.  Most come to organ donation out of severe financial straits, and the only receive $10,000 or less, if they receive any money at all.

To get around organ donation red tape in the countries in which the surgeries take place, donors sign fraudulent contracts claiming family relations with the recipient.  Most surgeries take place in Eastern Europe, the Philippines, and Ecuador.  The donors are flown back to Israel without any medical documentation and often return suffering severe complications from surgery.

During the course of their investigation, the police found donors on their way abroad for surgery, some even located in Ben-Guion airport shortly before departure.  Several victims of the organ trafficking ring are still abroad, and they will be notified of the acts of fraud and the traffickers' arrests upon their return.