Egyptian security forces have arrested a gang that includes professors from medical colleges, officials, and employees from five hospitals, including a government hospital, specializing in human organ trafficking. An informed security source told Sky News Arabia that the gang consists of the head of the nephrology department at a hospital in Cairo, a urology professor from a medical college, an anesthesia professor from another medical college, the head of a private laboratory, an employee from a kidney institute, a nurse from one of the hospitals, and four other individuals.
The gang's activities involved performing kidney transplants outside the law, exploiting the difficult economic conditions of some individuals, including patients with health issues that required surgical procedures, but who could not afford them. The source noted that the gang members convinced patients that they could undergo the necessary operations for free in exchange for donating one of their kidneys, coercing them by exploiting their needs to agree to the kidney transfer.
The investigation revealed that the gang offered victims between 20,000 to 30,000 Egyptian pounds, while they charged those buying the kidneys substantial amounts starting from 250,000 Egyptian pounds per patient. Furthermore, the gang forged medical tests and necessary imaging to obtain approval from relevant authorities for the operations in cases where the victims did not meet the required health criteria. They also obtained written consent from the victims and filmed the donors in videos claiming their consent to donate without any financial compensation, contrary to the truth, enabling them to perform kidney transplants without legal accountability.
The source explained that the plan involved the kidney buyers placing an advertisement in a national newspaper seeking a kidney donor, after which donors would call the numbers listed in the ad, leading to their recruitment. Official approval from the Medical Syndicate was secured using forged documents and tests indicating that all operations were free donations with no financial exchange, when in reality, the victims received minimal amounts for their kidneys.
It was emphasized that the operation was discovered after medical complications arose for some who had donated kidneys, leading them to complain and reveal their experiences. Consequently, security forces acted to monitor the gang members until they were arrested in the act.
The source indicated that the gang had conducted 120 kidney transplant operations using the same method during 2019 and 2020. The suspects have been referred to the public prosecutor's office, which is handling the investigation and has decided to detain them pending the case.
