Eleven prosecuted in alleged kidney trafficking ring in Ho Chi Minh City

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – The Investigation Police Agency of Ho Chi Minh City has initiated legal proceedings against 11 individuals across three cases of trading in human body parts, an offence under Article 154 of the Penal Code, following an investigation that uncovered a sophisticated kidney trafficking ring operating through social media networks and personal connections. The investigation identified three key figures in the ring: 37-year-old Phạm Đỗ Đăng Khoa from Đồng Nai, 32-year-old Phạm Thị Mỹ Hà from Gia Lai, and 36-year-old Cao Thị Dự from Vĩnh Long, who since July have used social media groups related to kidney donation and transplantation to identify potential buyers and sellers, connecting them for kidney sales disguised as donations to earn illegal profit.

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Once contacted by interested buyers, the suspects would quote a price of 1.4 to 1.5 billion Vietnamese dong for a kidney transplant, then find a seller with compatible health indicators, targeting individuals facing financial hardship and negotiating to purchase their kidneys at a price lower than the amount agreed upon with the buyers to pocket the difference. Group members who successfully sourced a seller and finalised a transaction could receive a referral fee of 50 million dong, while those assigned to escort the seller and buyer to medical examinations and tests, monitor results, and assist with procedures were paid 10 million dong per successful case.

To conceal the illegal transactions, the suspects coached buyers and sellers to describe the transplants as donations to doctors, medical staff, and legal consultants, providing fabricated details about their relationships, reasons, and motives for the donations, and assisted in preparing the necessary documentation for the transplants. After deducting expenses such as the cost of purchasing kidneys, medical examinations, testing, travel, accommodation, document processing, and payments to group members, the three group leaders pocketed the remaining profit.

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The eight other suspects include individuals from Cà Mau, Khánh Hòa, and Vĩnh Long provinces, as well as five Ho Chi Minh City residents, with further investigations underway. The case has drawn attention to the illegal organ trade in Vietnam, where desperate patients and financially struggling sellers are exploited by middlemen who profit from the gap between supply and demand for transplantable organs. Authorities have indicated that the investigation will continue to expand as they seek to identify additional participants in the trafficking network.