Islamabad, August 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Pakistan’s illegal organ trade has evolved into a cross-border criminal network driven by international demand, poverty, weak regulatory oversight and alleged medical malpractice, according to a report.
A June case in Islamabad involving the alleged export of human placenta to Vietnam has highlighted the international dimensions of the trade. Earlier cases involving transplant tourism have also indicated that foreign patients travelled to Pakistan for organs obtained through illicit arrangements, the report said.
According to the Pakistan Observer, such operations can involve local brokers, foreign recipients, cash transactions and falsified medical documentation, making enforcement more difficult when criminal networks operate across jurisdictions.
The report said recent raids and arrests indicate that illegal organ trafficking remains entrenched in neighbourhood networks, private clinics and other poorly regulated facilities.
It cited investigators as linking recent cases to organised networks involving brokers, medical professionals and facilitators, with alleged illegal transplant procedures carried out through forged documents, bypassed approvals and structured financial transactions.
In June 2026, the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Anti-Corruption Circle arrested two suspected recruiters accused of targeting brick-kiln workers, daily-wage labourers and other economically vulnerable people for illegal kidney transplant procedures. The arrests followed an earlier Islamabad operation in which a doctor and several members of his medical team were arrested.
Officials said the network may have facilitated around 187 illegal kidney transplants. Recipients were allegedly charged between $21,500 (PKR 6 million) and $36,000 (PKR 10 million) per procedure, while donors reportedly received only a small portion of the money.
In another operation on June 25, the FIA arrested five people in Islamabad, including three Chinese nationals and two Pakistanis, over alleged involvement in the illegal human-organ trade.
Investigators also recovered fresh, dried and processed human placenta, which officials suspected had been sourced from hospitals in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore.
The placenta was allegedly mislabelled as sheep organs and exported to Vietnam, according to the report. The case has raised concerns that the illicit market extends beyond kidney trafficking and may include the collection, processing and international movement of human biological material through hospital-linked channels.
The report said the cases underscore how economic vulnerability and weak enforcement can expose people to exploitation while allowing criminal networks to profit from medical procedures and biological materials.
FOLLOW NOW
