Kazakhstan’s Prosecutor General’s Office reported significant progress in a high-profile case involving transnational human trafficking and the illegal trade in human organs. A Ukrainian citizen, whom investigators consider a key link in the chain, has been extradited to the country. This was reported by upl.uzreports.
According to official information, the suspect was part of an organized criminal group operating in Central Asia and the Caucasus in 2017–2018. The group’s main goal was to buy kidneys, resell them, and channel them for transplantation; victims included citizens of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, as well as Tajikistan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.
The suspect had been hiding from justice for a long time and was on an international wanted list for five years. She was detained at the European Union border—while attempting to cross the Polish border—and, after the required legal procedures, was handed over to the Kazakh side.
She has now been placed in a pre-trial detention facility and is awaiting further procedural actions. Investigators say the group organized at least 56 illegal organ transactions.
Notably, the transplant operations are said to have been carried out in medical institutions in Kazakhstan. Preliminary estimates suggest the organ recipients were citizens of Western countries willing to pay large sums to bypass transplant waiting lists.
Law enforcement agencies continue to establish all details of the case and to fully identify the circle of individuals who set up this underground “business.” In most countries, organ trafficking is a crime; Iran is cited as the only country where kidney sales are legally regulated through a special government-controlled system.
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