Police squads have detained seven suspects, including three foreign nationals, in connection with an illegal organ transplant scheme in an undisclosed private hospital in Istanbul, according to the reports on Tuesday.
The teams of a special police branch of the fight against migrant smuggling and border gates branch launched the investigation on a tipoff against a couple who presented themselves as a husband and wife, for a transplant procedure using fake IDs.
According to the information obtained, it was revealed that the couple turned out to be Algerian and Palestinian nationals.
In addition, it was discovered that the couple using the fake names E. Abdalag and S. Taha were not married and the real name of E. Abdalag was disclosed as S. Sıdı.
Further investigation revealed that the couple had contacted two Syrian nationals Mustafa Y., Şerif D., and a Turkish citizen of Syrian origin Mustafa D. who demanded $50,000 (TL1.07 million) for a complete transplant procedure from Taha.
S. Sıdı, the kidney donor was set to receive $12,000 after the surgery, as per Demirören News Agency (DHA) reports.
During the investigation, it was also found that Mustafa D., who applied for the procedure, was an employee at the hospital, working in the international patient department.
Following the illegal organ transplant scheme involving the issuance of fake documentation, the organizers, Mustafa Y., Şerif D. and Mustafa D., as well as the organ donor S. Sıdı, organ recipient S. Taha, the supposed spouse E. Abdalaq, and their friend, another Palestinian national named Muhammad Omar A., were detained.
The scheme organizers, after preliminary proceedings, were arrested and transferred to the courthouse, while the kidney recipient S. Taha, the donor S. Sıdı, and the recipient's friend Muhammad Omar A. were released on bail.
