Your kidney could be the next target in the seemingly clean criminal organ markets

One of the most troubling realities of our time is organised crime. Numerous criminal web networks have spread internationally, hiding under facades of clean businesses and charity projects, yet carrying out cruel, gruesome, ugly, and unimaginable things.

The expansion of knowledge in medicine has widened the possibilities of living, as there are work-in-progress solutions even for the most difficult health cases, thanks to untiring researchers. Nonetheless, these advancements are misused when they become the basis of exploitative business between an endangered person and a well-functioning person without following legal and permissible processes under local and international laws.

In the case of kidney transplants, there has been a high demand for functioning kidneys compared to the few available donors — and even fewer compatible ones. So, what happens next? Patients in countries facing these dynamics seek solutions elsewhere, where the waiting lists are much shorter — just a few months, compared to the 5 to 10 years they would wait in their own countries, often with little hope of finding a kidney in good condition.

This urgency is the loophole of crime, where criminal professionals in hospitals and health-related companies source donors in low-economy countries for recipients in high-economy countries, with transactions carried out in the currency of the latter, to the detriment of the donors with whom they have little or no communication at all. Many African countries are affected by this reality, and we cannot say that Tanzania is not one of them, or at the very least, not a possible target.

A detailed documentary published last week by Deutsche Welle (DW), which is Germany’s public broadcasting service, reveals shocking findings of this long-ignored criminal trade, allegedly protected by some top government officials, as said in the documentary.

Many young people in Kenya have been lured to sell a kidney for about 4,000 euros, while the company charges up to 220,000 euros to the recipients. This is unethical and unjust, as these donors need to have finances for a lifestyle that adapts and supplies for their new needs after one kidney is removed.

In addition, transplants have been performed even for persons who were clearly going to die soon, and worse, kidneys were taken from young people whose age in the recipients’ respective countries would be considered too young for kidney donation.

The documentary notes that appropriate authorities had investigated and given a report two years ago, establishing that many cases lacked standard donor–recipient health compatibility, but they were still carried out. This is a clear sign that it is a business, contrary to international law.

While strong media task forces like DW can take up such dangerous investigative tasks, most local media will avoid such explorations due to fear. This is a reason why we do not know a lot about organised crimes like this.

This should be a call for public awareness. It is time for the government and interested organisations, and people of influence to raise more awareness on this matter to help people make informed decisions and not patronise criminal networks. Organ donation is a charitable thing, but should be done within the precincts and demands of acceptable laws and medico-social ethics. It should not be a trade with blindfolds and middlemen handling cash transactions.

This area can mostly be controlled through serious monitoring by the government and its intelligence system, especially in hospitals owned by foreigners or where most patients are foreigners. Trends of this illegal trade show that priority is given to foreign patients because they pay more.

There are cases, equally, of people having minor surgeries, or even reconstruction cosmetic surgeries, who have later, after complications, found that one kidney was missing. As many women go into plastic surgeries of all kinds, which may involve opening of the trunk area of the body, it is crucial to ensure that they are aware of the risks.

It is not a good move to undertake such operations where the laws are not in one’s favour in case of any irregularity of permissible practice. For example, if someone discovers after 10 years that they are missing a kidney that was removed in country X in Europe during cosmetic surgery, would it be possible to seek justice? To avoid all these, we are better off without some of these unnecessary surgeries at the expense of one’s already healthy life.

While it is true that life is not easy and poverty can lead people to make bad decisions, young people need to understand that wealth is built slowly through hard work and consistency. One-time offers to ‘change your life’ with cash will 99% of the time be too good to be true! Opportunities to travel abroad for work also need to be monitored keenly and done openly to avoid situations leading to trafficking of persons for organs and other forms of exploitation.

To end with, we need more and more legal education and regulation on organ transplants and donation locally and, for the sake of dignified practice, for locals in need, in ways that as much as possible reduce commercialisation loopholes and criminal interference. This will also help monitor strictly the donor–recipient relationship, which is one among the most important conditions as defined by the international law guiding organ transplants, aside from the mere consent of the donor to donate. (See UN General Assembly 2024 resolution: A/RES/79/189 and UNODC Toolkit on the Investigation and Prosecution of Trafficking in Persons for Organ Removal, 2022). We also need clear and well-explained local policies from the appropriate ministry regarding donations of organs after death as well.

Shimbo Pastory is a Tanzanian journalist and social development advocate. He studies at the Loyola School of Theology, Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, Philippines.