India's Poor Sell Their Kidneys to Buy Food

Police in India have arrested suspects allegedly tied to an illegal kidney trafficking ring at a prestigious private hospital that sold the poor’s kidneys for thirteen times the price they paid for them.

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The ringleaders were part of a gang that posed as doctors and secretaries, a police spokesperson told CNN on Monday. They worked at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital Delhi for four to five months and sold at least five kidneys with forged documents, some without consent.

Indian law outlaws the organ trade, but high demand has created an expensive black market, especially for kidneys, which are valued at about US$60,000. Transplant donations to non-relatives must be approved by a special committee to ensure they are not made for commercial reasons. Police are investigating the hospital's committee for irregular activity.

"The hospital has been a victim of a well-orchestrated operation to cheat patients and the hospital," said a hospital spokesperson, who called the trafficking ring a “grave concern,” reported the BBC.

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Five suspects are in custody, and police are expanding their search for more in other cities. Gang members convinced poor Indians from as far as Chennai and West Bengal provinces to stay in Delhi for the operation. Police initially raided the hospital on Thursday, making three arrests.

The police were tipped off when a woman fought her husband for selling her kidney without her consent, reported NDTV.

Millions of Indians suffer from kidney disease, mostly because of high rates of diabetes, hiking demand for transplants annually.