Published November 12, 2025 | Version v1
Journal article Open

The illicit Organ Trade: Biographical, Anatomical, Economic and Legal Aspects

Creators

  • 1. College of Health Sciences, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria

Description

A kidney can cost up to USD 200,000. Humans have two kidneys but normally require just one to live. Individuals can donate one to relatives for altruistic reasons. But to pay USD 200,000 - or any other amount - to obtain a kidney, no country in the world allows that. Except for Iran. This global blanket ban has pushed the trade of organs underground and it now ranks as the fourth most lucrative illegal activity – behind only drugs, arms, and human trafficking. Rising incidence of end-stage kidney disease will increase demand for replacement kidneys, both gifted and bought. This essay studies this trade using two case studies, one of a Nigerian leading legislator arrested in the UK for getting a kidney for his daughter and another on kidney demand in Iran where trade in organs is permitted. The global value of the trade is studied, and literature gaps are discussed. The inadequacies of the current system are highlighted and improvements suggested, based on best practices around the world.

Files

J_ASAP_2025_Akpen.pdf

Files (1.3 MB)

Name Size Download all
md5:b86e4babd15fd07447d680ba10931cf4
1.3 MB Preview Download

Additional details

References

  • Ambagtsheer, F. (2017). Organ trade. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Erasmus University Rotterdam.
  • Ambagtsheer, F., & Weimar, W. (2012). A criminological perspective: Why prohibition of organ trade is not effective and how the Declaration of Istanbul can move forward. American Journal of Transplantation, 12, 571–575.
  • Ariely, D. (2011, November 11). Dan Ariely asks, are we in control of our own decisions? [Video]. TED. http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_ariely_asks_are_we_in_control_of_our_o wn_decisions.html
  • Aronowitz, A.A., & Isitman, E. (2013). Trafficking of human beings for the purpose of organ removal: Are (international) legal instruments effective measures to eradicate the practice? Groningen Journal of International Law, 1 (2).
  • Aworinde, O. (2023, May 5). The Ekweremadu trial: A timeline. Channels TV. https://www.channelstv.com/2023/05/05/ekweremadus-trial-atimeline/&text=The%20Ekweremadu%20Trial:%20A%20Timeline
  • Best, D., Strang, J., Beswick, T., & Gossop, M. (2001). Assessment of a concentrated, high profile police operation: No discernible impact on drug availability, price, or purity. British Journal of Criminology, 41, 738–45.
  • BNET. (2003). Offering financial incentives for live donation has reduced Iran's kidney waiting list to zero, surgeon reports. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0YUG/is_1_13/ai_n18615101/?tag=content
  • Bos, M. (2015). Trafficking in human organs. Brussels, Belgium: European Parliament.
  • Campbell, D. & Davison, N. (2012, May 27). Illegal kidney trade booms as new organ is 'sold every hour.' The Guardian. https://theguardian.com/world/2012/may/27/kidneytrade-illegal-operations-who
  • Caplan, A., Domínguez-Gil, B., Matesanz, R., & Prior, C. (2009). Trafficking in organs, tissues and cells and trafficking in human beings for the purpose of the removal of organs. Strabourg, France: Council of Europe.
  • Castells, M. (1998). The global criminal economy: End of millennium. Blackwell.
  • Codreanu, N., Ambagtsheer, F., Weimar, W., de Jong, J., & Ivanovski, N. (2013). Brokers. In A. Pascalev, J. de Jong, F. Ambagtsheer, S Lundin, N Ivanovski, C Codreanu, M. Gunnarson, J. Yankov, I. Bystrom, M. Bos, W. Weimar (Eds), Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal: A comprehensive literature review. (pp.41 - 45). HOTT Project.
  • Cohen, I.G. (2012). Transplant tourism: the ethics and regulation of international markets for commercial kidney donors: Thematic synthesis of qualitative research. Transplant Int. 25(11), 1138-1149
  • Dahlkamp, J., Hofner, R., Hoffman, H., & Latsch, G., (2025, April 15). How Germans buy new kidneys in Kenya. Spiegel International. https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/organ-trafficking-how-germans-buynew-kidneys-in-kenya-a-a16089cf-5bb6-40d3-ac38-fac8ef3eff4d
  • de Jong, J., Bos, M., Ambagtsheer, F., Weimar, W., Lundin, S., Gunnarso, M., & Bystrom, I. (2013). Financial aspects of trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal. In A. Pascalev, J. de Jong, F. Ambagtsheer, S Lundin, N Ivanovski, C Codreanu, M. Gunnarson, J. Yankov, I. Bystrom, M. Bos, W. Weimar (Eds.). Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal: A comprehensive literature review. (pp. 55 – 62). HOTT Project.
  • Duguay, J-P., Hermon, B., & Alexandra, S. (2020). Trafficking in human organs: An overview (Background paper). Ottawa, Canada: Parliamentary Information and Research Service.
  • European Court of Human Rights. ( 2015). Press release on ECHR 005: Removal of tissue from a deceased man's body without the knowledge or consent of his wife amounted to degrading treatment. https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?library=ECHR&id=003-4979534- 6105810&filename=Elberte%20v.%20Latvia%20- %20Removal%20of%20body%20tissue%20after%20death%20without%20consent.p df
  • Garland, D. (2001). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. University of Chicago Press.
  • Goyal, M., Metha, R.L., Schneidermann, L.J. et al., (2002). Economic consequences of selling a kidney in India, JAMA, 288, 1589– 1593.
  • Hentrich, M. (n.d.). Health matters: Human organs donations, sales, and the black market.
  • Ijaseun, D. (2022, June 24). Timeline: Who is Ike Ekweremadu? Business Day. https://businessday.ng/politics/article/timeline-who-is-ike-ekweremadu/
  • Judiciary of England and Wales. (2023). Rex and Obinna Obeta, Ike Ekweremadu, & Beatrice Ekweremadu: Sentencing remarks of Mr Justice Johnson. Central Criminal Court
  • Lee, A., & Tham, J. (2022). Opt-in vs. Opt-out of organ donation in Scotland: Bioethical analysis. The New Bioethics, 28(4), 341–349.
  • Lundin, S. (2012). Organ economy: Organ trafficking in Moldova and Israel. Public Underst Sci., 21(2), 226–241.
  • MacCoun, R.J., & Reuter, P. (2001). Drug war heresies. Cambridge University Press.
  • May, C. (2017). Transnational crime and the developing world. Global Financial Integrity
  • Mendoza, R.L. (2012). Transplant Management from a Vendor's Perspective. Journal of Health Management, 14(1), 67-74.
  • Mendoza, R.L. (2010). Colombia's organ trade Evidence from Bogota and Mendellin. Journal of Public Health (Germany), 18 (4), 375–384.
  • Moniruzzaman, M. (2012). "Living cadavers" in Bangladesh: Bioviolence in human organ bazaar. Med Anthrolpol Q, 26(1), 69–91.
  • Naylor, R. (2002). Wages of crime: Black markets, illegal finance, and the underworld economy. Cornell University Press.
  • Olsena, S. (2008). A Latvian case: The removal of tissue from 400 deceased persons. In: W. Weimar and M.A. Bos (Eds.). Organ transplantation: ethical, legal, and psychosocial aspects, towards a common European policy, (pp. 64 -71), Pabst.
  • OSCE (2020). Trafficking in human beings for organ removal. Austria: Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
  • Price, D., & Mackay, R. (1991). The trade in human organs. The New Law Journal, 141(6520), 1272–1273.
  • Roth, A.E. (2015). Who gets what – and why: The new economic of matchmaking and market design. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  • Salahudeen, A.K., Woods, H.F., Pingle, A., et al., (1990). High mortality among recipients of bought living-unrelated donor kidneys. Lancet, 336, 725 – 728.
  • Scheper-Hughes, N. (2011). Mr Tati's holiday and Joao's safari – seeing the world through transplant tourism. Body and Society, 17 (2–3), 55–92.
  • Thaler, R.H., & Sunstein, C.R. (2008). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press.
  • Tober, D. M. (2007). Kidneys and Controversies in the Islamic Republic of Iran: The case of organ sale. Body & Society, 13(3), 151-170.
  • Tong, A., Chapman, J.R., Wong, G., Cross, N.B., Batabyal, P., & Craig, J.C. (2013). The experiences of organs. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 41(1), 269-85
  • Turner, L. (2009). Commercial organ transplantation in the Philippines. Camb Q Healthc Ethics 18(2), 192-196.
  • Weaver, M. (2023, May 5). Met police investigate more organ trafficking cases in UK. The Guardian. https://theguardian.com/world/2023/may/05/met-police-investigatemore-organ-trafficking-cases-in-uk
  • Yea, S. (2010). The commercial kidney market in a Manila slum, the Philippines. Global Social Policy, 10, 358–75.