(April 8, 2010) According to Israeli press, police arrested six men in northern Israel Tuesday, in a crack-down on illegal human organ trafficking.

Police had launched an investigation after receiving a number of complaints from people who had responded to a newspaper ad saying respondents would be paid $100,000 for a kidney. The respondents participated, giving up a kidney in surgery completed out of Israel, but when they returned home, they were not paid.

The investigation culminated in a raid which resulted in the arrests of an Israeli reserve Brigadier General along with two lawyers. Police said they uncovered a large operation at work in Israel, one that takes advantage of people experiencing kidney problems as well as people with financial difficulties.

The traffickers are charging donees around $120,000 for a kidney, and while they promise organ donors $100,000, they are only paying a fraction of the money promised, if they receive any payment at all.
Israel only allows voluntary organ donations, having ended the system of payments for organs in 2008 in a bid to end organ trafficking.