Link. Great Depression II has consequences.

“Pavle Mircov and his partner, Daniella, nervously scan their email inbox every 15 minutes, desperate for economic salvation: a buyer willing to pay nearly $40,000 (€32,000) for one of their kidneys.

The couple, the parents of two teenagers, put their organs up for sale on a local online classified site six months ago after Mr Mircov (50) lost his job at a meat factory here…

… The spread of illegal organ sales into Europe, where they are gaining momentum, has been abetted by the internet, a global shortage of organs for transplants and, in some cases, unscrupulous traffickers ready to exploit the economic misery.

In Spain, Italy, Greece and Russia, advertisements by people peddling organs – as well as hair, sperm and breast milk – have turned up on the internet, with asking prices for lungs as high as $250,000 (€199,000).

In late May, the Israeli police detained 10 members of an international crime ring suspected of organ trafficking in Europe, European Union law enforcement officials said…

… “Organized criminal groups are preying upon the vulnerable on both sides of the supply chain: people suffering from chronic poverty, and desperate and wealthy patients who will do anything to survive.”

The main supply countries have traditionally been China, India, Brazil and the Philippines. But experts say Europeans are increasingly vulnerable.

An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 kidneys are illegally sold globally each year, according to Organs Watch, a human rights group in Berkeley, California, that tracks the illegal organ trade…”