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The article is about the black market and forced organ donations. In the article it explains how people are tricked into selling their kidneys for little to no money and then the seller makes huge profit on it. The article then goes on to talk about people who are murdered for their organs.

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When families or individuals are tired of spending years on a medical waiting list, they sometimes purchase body parts - kidneys, eyes, lungs, heart, limbs and more - for transplant on the black market.

It sounds like science fiction, but organ harvesting is an unfortunate fact in the criminology world of today.

Organ Harvesting and Human Trafficking

Organ harvesting has been tied to human trafficking and has become a booming business in the 21st century on a global scale.

It is a criminal offense to traffic body parts, or perform transplants from any source not legally affiliated with a hospital or other medical facility, but legality doesn't deter either side of these transactions.

Notably,quite a lot of illegally-trafficked body parts are harvested by any means necessary, and are gladly received, no-questions-asked, by the person willing to pay top dollar for a kidney, a heart, or a hip.

Illegal Organs: Supply and Demand

According to the American Transplant Foundation, 123,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list to receive an organ. Every 12 minutes a new name is added to the list and an average of 21 persons per day die due to a lack of organ availability.Corneas, kidneys, liver, lung, intestines, bone marrow are the most common transplant needs.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services data of Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network reports 121,333 currently awaiting organ transplant of which 100,402 are waiting for a kidney. Only 30,970 transplants actually took place (legally) in 2015. According to the World Health Organization, America is one of many organ-importing countries and by the use of the web, patients can get transplant packages from $70 to over $160,000.00.

USA Today conducted an investigative report in 2006 and found that illegal body harvesting is very lucrative in the U.S. due to the high demand of body parts. The investigation revealed that from 1987- 2006 (19 years), over 16,800 families had pursued lawsuits stating that their loved ones body parts were illegally sold for an estimated $6 million dollars. That amount is based on figures obtained from federal and local investigators, public organizations and medical universities.

Where do the organs come from? Willing donors, in some cases. An NBC Chicago investigative reporter found that people even boldly advertise their kidneys for sale on Craigslist. The investigation revealed that hundreds of people in Illinois were willing to sell their kidney for a few thousand dollars. After discovering a Chicago area man who was offered $30,000.00 for his kidney and received several hits in one month, they went undercover posing as a person willing to sell a kidney and exchanged emails from organ brokers as well as doctors who were willing to perform the transplant for a fee.

Unfortunately, many people become victims of the illegal organ trafficking industry as well.

Organ Trafficking Laws and Offenders

Organ trafficking is a form of human trafficking and is an organized crime. According to the UN Gift Hub, organ trafficking falls into three categories:

(1) Traffickers who trick the victim into giving up an organ for no cost, (2) Con artists who convince victims to sell their organs, but who do not pay or who pay less than they agreed to pay, and (3) Doctors who treat people for ailments which may or may not exist, and remove the organs without the victim's knowledge.

The organ trafficking trade involves a host of offenders. As the UN Gift noted, there is a recruiter who seeks out the 'donor,' there is a transporter of the organs, there are staff of the hospital or clinic that receives the organs, and of course the medical practitioners who perform the transplants. There are also middlemen, contractors, buyers and the banks that store the organs/tissues.

Decoded Science interviewed a former transplant clinical researcher for a major hospital, who spoke with us under condition of anonymity. He stated he had encountered cases where people bought their organs from people willing to sell. He shared an experience of an elite Saudi Arabian who arrived at the hospital for a kidney transplant accompanied by a young man he claimed was his brother. Testing showed no genetic match. The researcher later found out that the Saudi elite had paid the young man $50,000.00 in U.S. money for his kidney. Our source also noted that even though there is a waiting list for organs, favoritism does occur, and money can get someone moved up on the list fairly quickly.

Ann Cheney, author of Body Brokers: Inside America's Underground Trade in Human Remains stated " Today we aren't robbing graves but we are violating corpses, we are failing to carry out donor wishes, and we are putting patients at risk- all because we have been disturbingly complacent about what happens to people's bodies when they die."

Real Life Body Snatcher

According to NBC New York, Levy Rosenbaum, known as the "Kidney Broker" was sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison and was the first proven case of organ trafficking. His indictment came from an FBI sting operation from the black market sale of 3 kidneys for a total of $410,000.00. Rosenbaum recruited poor Israeli donors who sold him their kidneys for $10,000.00 and re-sold the organs to Americans for over $120,000.00 each. He told undercover FBI agents that he arranged for a lot of transplants and sold them to the Albert Einstein Medical Center and Hospital where he acted as a facilitator for donor matches for Israeli patients from 1999-2000.

Killing To Give Life

In addition to con-artists and unscrupulous doctors, there are also extreme cases in which people are outright murdered for their organs. Every year, there are suspicious deaths, in which the victim had their organs removed.

2012 - Vance Anderson, 51 year old painter of Philadelphia, died at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia due to complications from a lung condition. By time he his mother was to claim his body for burial, his eyes, heart, brain and pancreas were removed. The explanation given was that the organs were "donated for education" - but this occurred without the family's consent. (Philly.com)

2013- Kendrick Johnson, 17 year old student of Georgia, was found dead inside of a mat at his school, the death was ruled an accident. When his parents demanded an independent investigation, a second autopsy revealed that his internal organs, brains, lungs, liver were missing, and the cavities were filled with newspaper. (WSBTV)

2014- Ryan Singleton, 24 year old of Georgia, went to California in pursuit of acting jobs. His body was discovered in Death Valley with multiple organs removed. (Eyes, heart, lung, liver, and kidney were missing) The rest of his body remained intact. The investigators told his family that his organs may have been eaten by a wild animal. (WGNTV)

2015 - Nicholas Rodriguez, 24 year old California State Prison inmate was found after a 15 hour prison riot in a garbage can in the shower next to his cell. His body was almost cut in half and his abdominal and chest organs were removed. This mutilation occurred in a medium security prison with surveillance. (Huffington Post)

Highest Bidder Gets You...

The demand for kidneys has reached an epidemic level in the United States and people are willing to buy or sell through the "network" even though this is illegal and punishable by jail time plus a $50,000.00 fine.

The FDA is the regulating body on the buying and sale of organs, body parts, however it is the FBI who has made many arrests. Who is protecting your body - or the body of your loved ones?

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Organ Harvesting, Human Trafficking, and the Black Market

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When families or individuals are tired of spending years on a medical waiting list, they sometimes purchase body parts - kidneys, eyes, lungs, heart, limbs and more - for transplant on the black market. It sounds like science fiction, but organ harvesting is an unfortunate fact in the criminology world of today.

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A couple in California has been charged with forced labour. If they are convicted they will have to serve 20 years in jail and pay a $250,000 fine. The workers were forced to work 18 hours a day and were not paid. If they did not comply the couple would use force or physical restraint.

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Washington: An Indian-American couple have been indicted on human trafficking charges related to forced labour of foreign nationals primarily from India, authorities have said.

A federal grand jury charged Satish Kartan, 43, and his wife Sharmistha Barai, 38, with conspiracy to commit forced labour and the commission of forced labour.

Kartan has also been charged with fraud in contacting foreign labour and Barai with benefiting from forced labour, the Department of Justice said on Thursday.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine.

The couple from California were arrested on October 21, on a criminal complaint and were released on bond with special conditions that prohibit them from hiring any non-relatives to perform domestic services or child care work for them. The arraignment is scheduled for November 21.

According to court documents, between February 21, 2014, and October 3, 2016, Kartan and Barai hired workers from overseas to perform domestic labour in their homes in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Stockton and elsewhere in the US.

In advertisements seeking workers on the internet and India-based newspapers, the couple made false claims regarding wages and duties of employment, federal prosecutors alleged.

"Once the workers arrived at the defendants' residences, Kartan and Barai forced them to work 18 hours a day with limited rest and nourishment. The defendants did not pay wages and used force, physical restraint and coercive conduct to get the workers to perform the labour and services," it said.

The indictment alleges that Kartan and Barai struck one worker on multiple occasions, including in one incident where Kartan grabbed her hands and caused them to be burned over the flames of a gas stove.

Moreover, the indictment alleges that the defendants failed to pay another worker and told her that they would call the police if she tried to leave.

When she was ultimately able to arrange to be picked up from the defendants' house, Kartan refused to provide her with the access code to the gated community so that her ride could not enter, the court papers alleged.

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Indian-American couple charged with human trafficking, forced labour

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Washington: An Indian-American couple have been indicted on human trafficking charges related to forced labour of foreign nationals primarily from India, authorities have said. A federal grand jury charged Satish Kartan, 43, and his wife Sharmistha Barai, 38, with conspiracy to commit forced labour and the commission of forced labour.

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Man charged with trafficking a teenage girl

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Man charged with trafficking a teenage girl

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In Edmonton they have charged a man with multiple charges. He was trafficking a teenage girl and forcing her to have sex with men and keeping the profit for himself.

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An Edmonton man is facing human trafficking charges, including sexually exploiting a teenage girl for profit.

Lexis Andrew Goyda, 24, was arrested by vice section detectives and other Edmonton police resources after a 10-week investigation.

Goyda is facing a list of charges, including two counts of procuring, procuring under 18 years of age, trafficking of a person under 18 years of age, sexual exploitation and three counts of advertising sexual services.

Police said they released Goyda's photo because they think there could be other women in Edmonton and Calgary, including girls under the age of 18, who have been exploited by him.

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Edmonton police charge man with human trafficking involving teen

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An Edmonton man is facing human trafficking charges, including sexually exploiting a teenage girl for profit. Lexis Andrew Goyda, 24, was arrested by vice section detectives and other Edmonton police resources after a 10-week investigation.

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I selected this photo because if you are caught trafficking another human for any of the types you will be charged under the criminal law and go to jail.

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This photo shows the percentages of people who are forced into the different types of human trafficking.

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This photo shows the different types of human trafficking that can happen to people.

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This video shows women telling their stories about how they were forced into prostitution. The girls explain how they were beaten and forced to sleep with men for money. A mother finds her daughter on a website being prostituted out.

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Hidden America: Chilling New Look at Sex Trafficking in the US

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ABC's Diane Sawyer reports on the danger of vulnerable young women falling victim to prostitution rings.

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This video gives information about the women who are forced to sell their bodies for money. In the video it explains how police will charge the girl for prostitution and not look into why she is doing it.

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2014 Overview of Human Trafficking in Oklahoma

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This video has been edited to show the human trafficking side of street prostitution in Oklahoma City. This video was most recently viewed at the University of Central Oklahoma panel discussion on Human Trafficking in Oklahoma. You can read more about the panel discussion here... http://johntv.com/2014-uco-panel-human-trafficking/

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This video is about a girl named Jasmine, during the video she explains what happened to her. She was with a guy who was trafficking her and other women. At the end of the video she charges him for what he has done to her.

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A hard to hear story from a survivor of the sex trade. Jasmine was a university student and had loans building up and was trying to pay for her education. She was a target for a man who manipulated, physically and mentally abused her.