Police bust Palestinian-Jordanian organ trade ring in Istanbul
Police have mounted an operation against an organ trade network led by Palestinian and Jordanian nationals in Istanbul. Ten individuals were detained, four of whom were jailed.
Duvar English
A joint operation led by the Istanbul Border Gates Office, the Anti-Smuggling Unit and the Human Trafficking Unit uncovered an organ trade network, which led to the arrest of 4 ringleaders and 6 individuals who intended to sell their organs or receive transplants, the daily Cumhuriyet reported on Dec. 8.
Upon examining the records of hospitals in Istanbul, the joint investigation team discovered that many foreign nationals had carried out organ transplants with fake documents at a hospital located in the district of Beylikdüzü.
The investigation revealed that each patient would pay the network 45,000 dollars to receive an organ transplant, 15,000 dollars of which was paid to the organ donor, 16,000 dollars to the hospital where the transplant was carried out, and 19,000 dollars to the ringleaders.
It shed light on a network comprised of four Jordanian and Palestinian nationals that organized and performed illegal transplants with forged kinship and birth certificates at the hospital in Beylikdüzü.
The network organized the transfer of the organ donors and receivers to Istanbul and carried out examinations to ensure that they were compatible. Hasan, B, the ringleader, was in charge of finding the organ donors and receivers on social media. Hasan Abu Z. was in charge of welcoming the individuals to Turkey. Ali YM S. served as the surgeon and Ahmad M. as a middleman.
Those four individuals were arrested on Nov. 3, while Palestinian national Hala Q.A. and Jordanian nationals Abdel H., Nihad S., Mohammed S.V., Naem S.S. were also detained.
During the operation, 21,600 dollars and 10,000 liras were confiscated as they were considered to have been earned illegally. A large number of forged documents were also seized.
The 10 suspects, whose legal procedures were carried out at the Istanbul Directorate of Security, were referred to a courthouse. While the four network members were arrested, the six other suspects were released on condition of judicial control.