FIA gets four-day custody of suspects in alleged organ smuggling case

ISLAMABAD: A local court in Islamabad on Friday granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a four-day physical remand of five suspects, including three Chinese nationals, in a case involving the alleged illegal trade and smuggling of human organs.

The suspects were produced before Duty Judge Mian Azhar Nadeem after being arrested during a joint operation by the FIA and the Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA) in Islamabad’s F-7 sector.

The court handed the suspects over to the FIA for further investigation and directed the agency to produce them again upon completion of the remand.

According to investigators, authorities recovered a large quantity of fresh, dried and processed human placentas during the raid.

The FIA alleged that the suspects had been collecting human placentas illegally from public and private hospitals in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore.

Investigators further alleged that the processed placentas were falsely declared in shipping documents as “sheep organs” and smuggled abroad.

The agency told the court that further interrogation was required to determine the scope of the alleged network and identify others involved.

The investigation is ongoing.