Doctor Arrested in Turkey For Human Organ Smuggling

Turkish authorities arrested a doctor Tuesday in an investigation into a human organ smuggling ring. Dr. Yusuf Ercin Sonmez was taken in to custody on an Interpol arrest warrant at his villa in the Kartal district of Istanbul.

Sonmez and 9 others are accused of being involved in organ trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling. Authorities believe he was the head of a smuggling ring located in Kosovo. The gang allegedly operated from the Medicus Clinic in Pristina and promised their customers payment for their kidneys. The donors never received the promised payments. Their organs were allegedly sold for up to $200,000 in other countries, including Israel, Germany and Canada.

The Anatolian news agency reports Sonmez told reporters outside a courthouse Wednesday that he is innocent of all charges against him. "There is no such crime. There is no organ trade. There can't be evidence for something that doesn't exist," he said.

Among those accused of being a part of the gang is Ilir Rrecaj, the former permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, and Lutfi Dervishi, a Pristina University Hospital professor.

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