A court in Tashkent has sentenced an organized criminal group of 12 individuals involved in the illegal trade of human organs and tissues, Fergana News reports, citing the Millar program .

The Yakkasaray District Court found the group’s leader, B. N., guilty of several criminal offenses under Uzbekistan’s Criminal Code. The charges included repeated organ trafficking and the use of forged documents. B. N. was sentenced to 9 years in a general regime colony.

Sentences for group members

The other members of the group also received prison sentences. Two women, I. E. and M. R., were sentenced to 10 years and 1 month in prison. M. B., a male participant, received a 6-year sentence, while other members received milder penalties, ranging from 3 to 3.5 years in prison, freedom restrictions, or corrective labor. One participant was given a suspended sentence.

Criminal scheme and operations

The criminal group was apprehended in September of this year. Its members were from Tashkent as well as the Tashkent, Fergana, Bukhara, and Kashkadarya regions. Investigators discovered that the group operated by targeting patients in need of kidney or liver transplants, as well as convincing healthy individuals to become donors for money.

To legalize the operations abroad, the organizers used connections in other countries and prepared fake identification documents to present the donors as relatives of the recipients. The surgeries were carried out in private clinics in neighboring countries, with more than 30 such procedures conducted during the group’s existence.

Financial schemes and fraud

The majority of the money obtained from patients was distributed among the members of the criminal group, while only a small portion went to the clinic and the donors. One donor’s wife revealed, “We went to Tajikistan for the transplant. The agreement was for $15,000, but after the operation, we were given only $5,000.”

Furthermore, investigators uncovered instances of fraud involving medication: patients who did not improve after the transplant were sold strong painkillers at inflated prices.

New organ transplant law

According to Uzbekistan’s new law on organ and tissue transplantation, passed in May 2022, organ removal and transplantation are allowed only in state-approved medical institutions. Donors must be citizens of Uzbekistan and are prohibited from donating organs to foreign recipients. The sale and export of organs are strictly prohibited.

This case highlights the ongoing efforts to combat illegal organ trafficking and emphasizes the importance of stricter oversight of such medical operations.