There
is a tendency to become desensitized to horror these days; we can just change
channels or switch off. I didn’t think I could be shocked anymore, until this
week.
At an
event that included a discussion on human trafficking, a religious sister told
me of a recent discovery in Cebu. There had been a spate of child disappearances/abductions
from the SM shopping mall and then a stroke of luck. One child was taken, but
as his parents noticed almost immediately they were able to alert security at
all exits and recovered him and the kidnappers were detained.
Investigation
by the authorities revealed the purpose of the abductions; human organ
trafficking. Not as in previous incarnations where the ‘donor’ is released
later minus a kidney; but where every transplantable organ is taken and the
rest disposed of. Rather like a butcher obtaining different cuts of meat from a
pig, this new breed of criminal masterminds methodically maximizes its profits.
Just to
give an idea, black-market prices for organs can run into hundreds of thousands
of dollars each; simpler transplant organs like kidneys the cheapest, rarer
items like heart and lungs, liver etc even more. So one child, fully harvested
could be pushing a million dollars.
If this
is not horrifying enough, consider the sophistication of the industry behind
this scheme. It requires primarily medical personnel, at the early stages to
connect with and offer the illegal service to those needing transplants, then expert
surgeons, anesthetists, theatre staff and lab staff. Matching all these people
and organs together requires a complex,
multinational network. The ‘donors’ may need to be transported, or what’s left
of them kept on life support as some transplants require that the organs are
still ‘live’.
Even in
our increasingly God-less age, I am amazed that doctors, nurses; so well
educated and already so privileged and from a predominantly Catholic society could
plumb such depths of depravity, just for money…
Another trafficking technique is to fool girls into thinking they can have a modelling career or other scam and then sell them to brothels overseas or locally..the film 'Human Trafficking' shows some of the techniques they use .. make sure your teenagers see the full film so as to protect themselves. Trailer below..
