Organ trafficking.
This morbid business is illegal in Singapore, but that has not stopped those who are desperate for a new chance at life from risking their chances of getting caught buying organs from live donors.
Recently, a man from Jakarta who was part of an organ-trafficking syndicate said that he donated a kidney to a buyer from Singapore.
Here is what happened.
Indonesian Man Claims That He Sold Organ to a Buyer From Singapore
Earlier this year, the Indonesian police busted an organ-trafficking syndicate based in Indonesia.
Over 122 donors were involved in the syndicate, and 12 people were detained as suspects.
One of them was Hanim, who is 41 years old and an Indonesian. Hanim claimed that he had sold his kidney to an organ-trafficking syndicate for a buyer from Singapore.
The identity of the buyer was not disclosed.
After this sale, Hanim joined the syndicate as a coordinator to help other Indonesians desperate for cash find a buyer for their organs.
The modus operandi for the syndicate allegedly asked the prospective organ seller to contact the syndicate on private Facebook groups and provide details such as their blood type, age and health details.
There would later be a gathering within Jakarta before the prospective donors were flown out of Indonesia to a neighbouring country for health checkups.
Upon passing the health checkup, the donors would be matched with prospective buyers who hailed from Singapore, Malaysia and China.
How Much Does a Kidney Cost?
While we often joke that things are so expensive that we have to sell our organs to afford them, how much can you make by selling your organs?
The answer is each kidney can sell for approximately 200 million rupiah (approximately S$17,700).
According to the Indonesian police, organ sellers receive 165 million rupiah (approximately S$14,600). That’s not a small sum of money.
For their efforts and to cover flight and passport-related fees, the traffickers take a cut of 35 million rupiah (approximately S$3,100).
The investigations in Indonesia also uncovered this unsavoury trade, which could have been going on for a substantial period, with many other syndicates yet to be found.
While organ trading is illegal in both Indonesia and Singapore, people still engage in such practices because they are desperate for organs and money.
For those who remember, Mr Tang Wee Sung, who was of the Tangs empire, was jailed for a day and fined S$17,000 in 2008 for attempting to buy a kidney.
In Indonesia, the suspects face imprisonment of up to 15 years and a hefty fine of up to 600 million rupiah (approximately S$53,100) if they are found to have violated the anti-human-trafficking laws in Indonesia.
