Police have arrested a Yemeni man who allegedly lured around 200 people into an organ trafficking scheme, making commissions off the illegally-sold organs, the Agence France-Presse reported Friday.
M.M.A. al-Moussagharia, 26, admitted he got involved in organ trafficking after selling one of his own kidneys to an Egyptian hospital in 2009, the interior ministry said on its website.
In April, Yemen’s public prosecutor suspected twelve people from Yemen, Egypt and Jordan of being a part of an international organ trafficking gang. An investigation also revealed the involvement of doctor from a prominent hospital in Egypt, the report said.
Those who sold their organs, which included mostly kidneys — but also corneas — were paid between $5,000 and $7,000, while members of the trafficking gang received as much as $60,000 per kidney.
The World Health Organization views Egypt as a major location for organ trafficking. Hundreds of poor Egyptians sell their kidneys or parts of their livers every year.
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