Investigation
ORGANS FOR SALE
Kidney trafficker brags to The Sun about luring poor victims into selling organs to desperate Brits on Facebook for £85k
AN international kidney trafficker bragged to an undercover Sun reporter that he could arrange illegal £85,000 transplant tourism packages for Britons.
The sinister broker — who boasts of masterminding 45 illicit kidney sales — uses Facebook to lure poverty-stricken victims from around the world to sell their organs to desperate patients.
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His fee includes “under the table” bribes the Malaysian says are for a clinic in Filipino capital Manila for the potentially fatal operations.
The trader, Shaifullizan Bin Abdul Mutalib, was caught on hidden camera crowing: “In Manila, cash is king. Money talks.”
Mutalib also confirmed links between the ruthless international organ trade and the harvesting of body parts from the downtrodden Uighur Muslim minority in China.
He claims he ceased his China operation in 2016 when he heard the kidneys were being taken “mostly” from Uighurs held in “concentration camps”.
The Malaysian, who has no medical experience, says he has more than 100 worldwide potential kidney sellers on his books, sourced through his Facebook page.
And he claims to have been contacted by at least five Britons offering to sell their organs. He says another Brit approached him on Facebook wanting to buy a kidney.
READY MARKET
Callous Mutalib refers to the potential organ donors as “stock” and admits he is preying on the poverty blighted.
“They’re all serious,” he added. “Nobody wants to sell their kidney if there is no financial problem.”
The dangers of black-market organ trafficking were underlined when he told our undercover team one of his transplant patients had died during an op in China.
There is a ready customer base for black market organs.
Every day, someone dies waiting for a kidney transplant in the UK.
Around 4,500 people here are waiting for the procedure, with an average waiting time of between two and three years.
There is a £1billion global transplant tourism industry.
But entering the black market is perilous — and illegal. Patients who buy kidneys overseas are much more likely to die or suffer a failure. Other risks include contracting HIV and hepatitis B and C.
The Malaysian, who has no medical experience, says he has more than 100 worldwide potential kidney sellers, sourced through his Facebook page
Fiona Loud, policy director of Kidney Care UK, told The Sun of brokers such as Mutalib: “It is completely unethical, immoral, criminal and dangerous.
“No matter how tempted people might be to get a kidney on the black market, it doesn’t usually lead to a good outcome.”
Sun investigators discovered Mutalib’s operation simply by typing “buy kidney” into Facebook. His page is one of many offering the service on the social media site.
One desperate donor posted on his page: “I need some money. I sell my one kidney plz help.”
Undercover Sun reporters messaged Mutalib’s page saying we had a relative in Britain who needed a transplant.
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We met the 48-year-old father of four at a hotel in Kuching, Malaysia, not far from his home.
In tinted glasses and dark striped polo shirt, he was soon bragging about his illicit trade.
He then casually sketched out a bespoke package for our “relative’s” transplant.
His fee would be 55,000 dollars for supplying the kidney — all payable to Mutalib. Then 65,000 dollars for the clinic — half to the hospital and half to Mutalib so “we do some under-table thing”.
Rules banning transplant ops between donors and recipients who aren’t friends or relations would be got round with bribes and forged papers, he explained.
He eventually dropped his donor fee to mean the total cost would be £85,000.
The following day we met Mutalib again and on speakerphone he contacted first a destitute Turkish man who wanted to sell his kidney for cash and then a Malaysian woman.
Beginning on the dark web, Mutalib says he has been hawking organs since 2010 and began using Facebook two years ago. He first centred his operation in China, which has been accused of organ harvesting on an industrial scale with body parts being taken from the Uighur minority and followers of banned spiritual movement Falun Gong. The broker says China would ask patients to leave the country within a fortnight to “dispose of the evidence”, even though the “cut is not healing yet”.
He ceased his China operations and developed contacts in the Philippines, which has a reputation as one of the global hotspots for organ trafficking.
20 YEARS IN PRISON
The broker boasts he now has a “surplus” of potential kidney sellers in India, Africa, South America and across Asia on his books.
He said five Britons had contacted him on Facebook offering to sell their kidneys. One wanted £60,000 and another £80,000. Mutalib said it was too much cash.
The broker says he has also been contacted by a Brit needing a transplant but negotiations ended.
Organ trading is illegal in Malaysia while under Philippine law human trafficking for organs could land Mutalib 20 years in prison.
The smiling fixer is well aware of the risks.
He added: “I’m doing a risky job dealing with the kidney buyer and seller. When you get caught, it’s years in jail.” Just under 400 Brits received follow-up support after a transplant abroad between 2000 and 2016. Some of the ops are legal.
But the true number of Brit transplant tourists is likely to be far higher, as brokers tell their patients not to let the NHS know what they have done.
In 2012 the Salvation Army rescued a woman brought to Britain to have her organs harvested.
In May the Government introduced an “opt-out” scheme in England for organ donation. It means when you die your organs will automatically be considered for donation unless you have stated otherwise. The NHS hopes it will lead to 700 more organ transplants each year by 2023.
But the coronavirus pandemic has seen the number of transplant ops in the UK plummet after a fall in violent crime and car accidents.
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Data from NHS Blood and Transplant shows only 265 transplant ops were carried out between April 1 and May 31 of this year, compared with 702 in the same period in 2019.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “Organ transplants should only be carried out by the NHS or a verified provider.”
A Facebook spokesman told The Sun last night: “We do not allow the sale of body organs on Facebook and we have removed the page brought to our attention.”
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The Sun has passed information on Mutalib to Britain’s National Crime Agency.
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