- An organ-trafficking ring in Pakistan is accused of illegally extracting peoples' kidneys.
- The patients often didn't know their organs were being harvested.
An organ-trafficking ring in Pakistan is accused of illegally extracting the kidneys of more than 300 people to give to rich clients in need of a transplant, according to reports.
Gang members sold the harvested kidneys to wealthy clients for up to 10 million Pakistani rupees each, or approximately $34,636, according to Mohsin Naqvi, the chief minister of Pakistan's Punjab province, per CNN.
Eight gang members, including a doctor and a car mechanic, were arrested this week, police said.
The alleged ringleader, Fawad Mukhtar, is accused of conducting at least 328 illegal kidney transplants, using vulnerable patients he enticed from hospitals, according to police, per The National.
Mukhtar, a doctor, had previously been arrested five times over charges of medical malpractice, but was released on each occasion after securing bail, The National reported.
He worked alongside a car mechanic, who has not been named, who administered the anesthesia and assisted in luring the patients, the Punjab province's chief minister said, according to CNN.
He added that some of the people having their organs harvested didn't know their kidneys were being removed.
The investigation was launched after one man came forward saying he was convinced by an alleged gang member to get private medical treatment, Naqvi said, per CNN.
The man said a later checkup with another doctor revealed that he didn't have a kidney, the chief minister said, according to the news outlet.
Transplants were carried out in private homes, BBC News reported, with the gang operating across the eastern Punjab province, as well as in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
At least three people died from having their organs harvested, BBC News reported.
"They were able to do this in Kashmir because there is no law regarding kidney transplants, so it was easier for them to carry out the operations there," Naqvi said, according to CNN.
Naqvi suggested that the actual number of transplants and illegal surgeries may exceed the reported 328, emphasizing that this number only represents confirmed cases, according to The National.
Pakistan made the commercial trade of human organs illegal in 2007.
But before the law, impoverished Pakistanis were selling their body parts in order to survive, CNN noted. This kind of trade is still taking place in Iran.
In 2010, the Pakistani law was updated to include punishments of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to one million Pakistani rupees ($3,464).