Organ trafficking in Cambodia: 9 arrested

The Australian | August 11, 2014 

NINE hospital workers in Cambodia have been arrested on suspicion of running an organ-trafficking ring. 

THE director and deputy director of the military Preah Ket Mealea Hospital in Phnom Penh were arrested, along with a Chinese doctor and several people described as Chinese-Vietnamese nationals, according to The Phnom Penh Post.


They have been accused of committing and assisting "human trafficking with intent", according to The Post. Three-to-five people had their kidneys removed at the hospital last year, The Post said. Each kidney is believed to have been sold for about $US40,000 ($A43,278) to Chinese buyers, with the donors receiving $US5,000 each. "The hospital director was questioned along with the others," police chief Chuon Sovan told The Post on Monday. Last month police last week arrested a Cambodian woman who had allegedly acted as a middleman between poor Cambodian organ donors and wealthy Cambodian patients in Thai hospitals. Trafficking human organs is punishable by seven to 15 years in prison in Cambodia.