IRAN From Kerala to Tehran for organ trafficking: an arrest reveals a network of exploiters

People with financial difficulties were taken to a clinic in Tehran to be sold a kidney for a few thousand euros. It is suspected that some of them died during the operations, which brought the pimps up to ten times more income. Iran is one of the crossroads of these criminal businesses due to the high incidence of kidney diseases.

Kochi () – The arrest of a man, on May 19 in Kochi, has exposed an international human trafficking network, linked to Kerala, which allegedly trafficked Indians to Iran to extract organs that were used in a Tehran hospital.

Sabith Nasar, 30, originally from Valapad in the Thrissur region of Kerala, was detained at the Kochi international airport shortly after landing from Iran. Investigations indicate that several economically precarious young men from Hyderabad and Bengaluru were allegedly taken to Tehran to provide kidneys for transplants. The young people were admitted to a private clinic in Tehran, where they “donated” their organs. They were then treated for three days and, once discharged, another 20 were housed in a flat before taking a flight back to India. Some of them, however, would never return from this trip, losing their lives in the process.

Sabith Nasar has confessed that the organ trafficking mafia is based in Hyderabad and that he is the main link with Kerala. It is also suspected that many of the victims are still languishing in Iran or other transit countries such as Kuwait. Investigations revealed that victims received less than 600,000 rupees (about 6,600 euros), while the organ mafia received up to ten times that amount for each operation. The detainee would have trafficked at least 20 people in the last five years.

According to journalistic sources, Iran is a crossroads of international organ trafficking, since patients from other countries also arrive for transplants outside legal channels. Furthermore, health reports reveal that in Iran there is a high prevalence of chronic kidney diseases among people over 20 years of age. Hence the local demand for donors.