9 kidney traffickers get jail terms

HANGZHOU - Nine people were sentenced to jail terms ranging from one to 10 years Tuesday at a court in East China's Hangzhou city for trafficking kidneys on the black market.

The nine, all under the age of 30, recruited people who were willing to sell their kidneys via the Internet before November 2011, according to a statement from the People's Court of the Jianggan District in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province.

The recruited people were accommodated in rented houses in the district, waiting for physical examination, matches to be found, and then kidney removal, the statement said.

As of May 28, 2012, when the kidney trafficking ring was cracked by authorities, more than 10 people they recruited had successfully sold their kidneys, it said.

The kidney traffickers said they initially sold their own kidneys and then organized for other people to do the same to gain income or repay a debt. Two of them even said their participation was initially spurred by the idea of making money to buy iPhones, according to the court.

One of the nine traffickers surnamed Lu said he could earn between 15,000 and 20,000 yuan ($3,235) for each kidney. He earned over 160,000 yuan through kidney trafficking.

Meanwhile, the nine defendants were fined and their illegal income shall also be confiscated, the court said.