According to police, eight members of a north-east Pakistani instrument smuggling ring have been detained.
Fawad Mukhtar, the purported president of the ring, is charged with removing the organs of more than 300 individuals and transplanting them to wealthy clients.
He had formerly been detained for fraud five times, but each time he was able to get out on bail.
According to authorities, at least three individuals died as a result of having their tissues harvested in this manner.
The group was thought to be active in Kashmir, which is administered by Pakistan, as well as throughout eastern Punjab state.
The implants were performed in private homes, frequently without the patient’s knowledge, according to Mohsin Naqvi, the chief minister of Punjab state.
According to legend, a car mechanic served as Mr. Mukhtar’s medical assistant and assisted in luring vulnerable patients out of hospitals.
The liver were finally sold for up to 10 million pounds each($ 99, 000,$ 120 000 ), according to Mr. Naqvi.
During a press conference on Sunday, Mr. Naqvi remarked that” the facts and figures that have come to us make the heart quiver.”
” Illegal surgeries and transplants are a lot more common than this. These are the ones that have been verified by us.
In Pakistan, the commercial industry of human tissues was outlawed in 2010.
In an effort to stop selling to foreign customers by dishonest doctors, middlemen, recipients, and donors, those caught face a ten-year prison sentence and hefty fines.
However, as people struggle with lower wages and lax legal protection, there has been an increase in instrument trafficking in the nation.
After a missing 14-year-old boy’s liver was discovered in an underground facility in January, Punjab officers discovered another instrument prostitution ring.