Research by investigative journalist: Scott Carney
Journalist Scott Carney estimates that he is worth
roughly $250,000
This number is not based on his savings or assets
Rather it is what he believes his body would sell for if it
was broken down into individual parts on what he calls
the “red market”
The Flesh Bazaar
It is assumed that the illegal buying and selling of
organs is worth billions of dollars.
This market of organs ranges from kidneys, hearts,
cornea’s, hair, etc….
The buying and selling of organs is against the law in
almost every country, but Carney says the market has
managed to grow thanks to the dire situations many of
its donors find themselves in.
As part of his research, Carney visited an Indian
refugee camp for survivors of 2004's massive tsunami.
Today, the camp is known by the nickname
Kidneyvakkam, or Kidneyville, because of how
common it is for the women who live there to sell their
kidneys.
"The women are just lined up," Carney says. "They have
their exposed midriffs and there are all these kidney
extraction scars because when the tsunami happened,
all these organ brokers came in and realized there were
a lot of people in very desperate situations and they
could turn a lot of quick cash by just convincing people
to sell their kidneys."
In one Indian refugee camp, so many women
have sold their kidneys that the camp has earned
the nickname Kidneyville.
When you're at your most desperate place is when the
brokers come in," Carney says. "One of these women,
her name was Rani, gave up a kidney because her
daughter had actually tried to commit suicide because
she was in a very difficult marriage ... In order to treat
her, the hospital needed a certain amount of cash — I
think it was about $1,000 — and [Rani] didn't have any
money so she did the only thing she could, which was
to sell her kidney because an organ broker just sort of
approached her very quickly. And that's a pretty
common situation. "
Locals say this building in Kolkata, India, was once the
center of the Indian black market bone trade. They say
workers once dried human bones on the roof and