Black Market Organs (Full Episode) | Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller

[Music] around the world from Los Angeles to South Korea filmmakers have tapped into organ trafficking as a uniquely horrific subject far at kidne Mom's heart it's a horror that unbelievably exists in the real world and to players in this game your body is a collection of products to be stolen or bought on the cheap and then resold to buyers for astronomical prices how much would you pay to save your life both men paid over $200,000 in order to obtain kidneys it's a sizable amount of money this red trade isn't a Hollywood cre a it's a reality with origins in modern-day Africa Asia and the Middle East in this Village alone more than half the people living here have sold one of their kidneys but now rumors of the red trade are bubbling up far closer to home and I set my sights on finding the people and organizations that are making a killing in body [Applause] parts so this is the liquid that's coming from inside you yeah it's been in my stomach cavity for about four or 5 hours right now Garrett row is hoping to beat the odds just kind of taking out the toxins processing um what my kidneys aren't doing to stay alive Garrett normally spends 9 hours each night hooked up to a dialysis machine I had a flu at one point and they just noticed that my uh blood pressure was a little high did some blood work and then probably by about 5:30 after I got home I got a phone call and she said I have a room for you at the emergency room you need to go right now and so what was happening um that they just were shutting down your kidneys yeah soz as of now I essentially have less than 3% functionality wow I mean last year alone I was almost a month and a half 2 months in the hospital I was passing out I was going head first into walls like I was I just couldn't function so you're going to me I'll need one um to start and that should hopefully I I hope it gets me at best 20 more years and I'll probably need a second one at that point and you've been on on the list here in Georgia for how long now oh jeez almost 2 years year and a half at least really yeah on average they say it's like 7 years that you wait on the list on dialysis it can roughly get you about 7 years extra before like you have to get an Oregan so what happens if you don't get an organ then that's it the numbers are brutal in the United States 17 people die every day waiting for an organ in 2020 over 39,000 Americans did receive a transplant but over a 100,000 languished on a waiting list hoping for a phone call that never came we've already have very loose conversations of what do we do when when we when we don't get one I can't help but wonder what I would do in a situation where my life or the life of a loved one was hanging in the balance and a solution perhaps was for sale in the underground what's Plan B where do we go who do we know in other countries that could help us out and set us up with whatever we need facing the same struggle how many patients in America have made the decision to take action to head towards a destination where the will to live overpowers Judgment of right and wrong the mortality rate while waiting for an organ in this country can actually be more than 50% because we don't have enough organs in San Francisco Peter chin H is an infection disease doctor who specializes in transplant patients how prevalent would you say are Black Market organs in the United States so we know the the floor which is at least 10% but it's certainly much higher because the 10% is what we know about when you think that you found a patient that has performed the surgery elsewhere and has a black market organ do you ask them so it's a really difficult con conversation it's Hush Hush what is it that you think makes them not want to tell you the truth embarrassment guilt um because they didn't line up like everyone else here uh and depending on how they got it they could be fair of you know uh harm maybe if you reveal identities of certain organizations that might be doing this and do you have any sense of where these organs are coming from we know that the Philippines China uh India and some places in Eastern Europe but there are undoubtedly other places as well no recipients under Dr Chin Hong's care would agree to meet but combing through social media there are ample clues of a thriving trade overseas this one sells kidney for $6,000 location is Rwanda 26 years old and healthy I mean it's just message after message it's mostly actually from developing countries you know which is the really sad truth about this and that makes me wonder with a full-blown migrant crisis taking place at our own borders could organ trafficking be right here at the doorstep of the United States it's a question I put to my context so any luck with this uh organ trafficking story not really you know I've been calling a whole bunch of people they don't have anything yet experts say that organ trafficking is widespread but incredibly difficult to report often because the victims are poor are willing participants and there's no political will to go after medical tourists and Wealthy doctors who enable the [Applause] trade hey Oliver how are you doing fine money on it yeah I've been in touch with a couple of guys at organized crime they basically are confirming that they are more and more involved in illegal organ uh trafficking oh wow so did you think that if we go down to Colombia we'll be able to film meet people and talk to people about this trade definitely definitely you should come down [Music] here it's been almost 30 years since Pablo Escobar was gunned down on a rooftop in medin but this region of Columbia has remained AC Crossroads for cartel activity and cocaine trafficking and if my local producer Oliver schmig is correct it's also becoming a hub for organ [Music] traffickers normally when I set out to report on a story whether it's drugs or guns or scams I have some expectations of how the market operates but here there's no telling because this Market if it exists is so new there are no official reports no arrests and no bodies if we are to prove the existence of organ trafficking in Colombia it will be an investigation that begins with accounts from the underworld to be viable an organ like a kidney must come from a live donor or a body that has just died and must be transplanted within 36 hours preferably even sooner if all of our sources are correct and organs are being smuggled out of Columbia that's a remarkably short window for them to cross borders and be transplanted into another body so I've come to see if I can confirm it with my own eyes the town we're heading to turbo is rumored to be the epicenter of smuggling for Columbia's most dangerous cartel the clan Del goo and how dangerous is it to report in this region it's pretty dangerous I mean it's a region which is controlled by the biggest drug cartel in Colombia I would easily say 80% of the population here is connected to drug trafficking activities Yes you heard that right and if you look around cartel markings are everywhere I've been to Turbo once before to report on the movement of cocaine but this time I'm looking into something far more Sinister and in many ways hoping it doesn't exist so we're heading now to meet the commandante which we met last time who was trafficking cocaine right in charge of this area yeah our first stop is to meet with an operative known as the commander who controls smuggling routs for the clan granting safe path Mage to those who pay the cartel and punishment for those who don't this is [Music] him [Music] for looking at a map it's easy to see why the cartel has placed the commander here and why it's one of the world's hot spots for smuggling there are no Roads connecting Colombia and Panama anybody headed north must travel by boat or Pass Overland through the Darion Gap a 100m journey through one of the most treacherous jungles in the world controlling the Daran Gap is crucial for the cartel which collects a so-called tax on drugs and migrants and now I'm being told on human organs [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] while we wait to see if the interv will happen I'm headed 30 m North to the town of niol CLE if migrants are being targeted for their organs in Colombia this is probably where it would be happening think we should go that way maybe so this is the point the beach where we hear a lot of the migrants congregate before they make their way across the sea this small town has been been transformed from a minor tourist destination to a choke point for migrants who get stuck here for weeks at a time waiting for a seat on a boat to continue their Journey North to America and you see there's the red crosses [Music] [Music] here migration and Refugee crisis have been breeding grounds for Oregon traffickers in other parts of the world it's an economy of desperation just as Garrett's desperation in America could someday lead him to buy an organ on the black market here in Colombia it's easy to see how desperation could also fuel someone's desire to sell one [Music] heartbreak and hope are everywhere here but evidence of organ harvesting is elusive everyone here in his group has heard rumors of organ trafficking but he's not sure neither the Red Cross nor the local police have confirmed anything beyond scant rumors but one policeman did agree to speak with us on condition of anonymity for for foreign [Music] for for as these families prepare for the Perils of the Darian Gap they're largely upbeat the violence they're escaping in their home countries feels far more real than these rumors of organ harvesting I on the other hand am growing increasingly concerned we've just been given the location to go meet this uh man who apparently goes by the name of this it's an ominous name in Spanish this is the word for somebody who tears apart cars a record we don't know much about this guy we've been told he's pretty high up on the Chain there's no light it's completely dark and there's a gate H Marana foree fore foree foree for see I know fore the go fast boats that he refers to could certainly make it to Panama in time for a kidney transplant but could an organ be safely smuggled from here all the way up to an operating room in the United States and within just 2 days I have my DS [Music] fore for for Fore fore [Music] the video he shows me is too gruesome to show on television organs are being removed from a dead body it's happening in a surgical setting but there's no care involved rather hands are pulling organs from an open chest and casually slapping them down on a metal table whether they represent what he claims I cannot say but by the time he's walked away I feel like I can hardly breathe that [Music] was heavy and horrible and Incredibly dark and and depressing and uh really difficult at the same time to I believe a lot of what he was saying because it just sounds so horrible I think the hardest interview I've ever had to do in my life I mean how much is he trying to make himself be more important in this than he actually is like he knows what he's doing that I'm not sure and I don't think we ever will know egole plays an important role in Black markets it's very often the reason why people agree to talk to me and sometimes it's difficult to parse the truth from Bluster and lies what I do know is that a business that works for one criminal group is often copied by another and since the record has mentioned ties to the Mexican cartels I'm going to follow the story north even closer to the US [Music] border okay in other parts of the world organ trafficking rooms have employed a small army of accomplices recruiters doctors nurses Hospital administrators even people to launder the cash I'm hoping that if I can find a low-level accomplice doors might open to bigger players my search starts here with a Criminal group that have been told buys kidneys from Mexican citizens which are then resold for transplant there's two guys waiting inside the car they're looking very suspiciously at us yes we're here it's a old house with lots of trash everywhere they're closing the gate behind us not the ideal situation [Music] H hello hi so I hear you speak English yeah how should I call you him he's got a gun oh have to be protected we this business so okay so I had what do you do well I'm like a scout I'm looking for the people who are willing to willing to donate and so how do you figure out if these are people are even compatible we have to make some um exams so if they are let's go if they not sorry man we took him here like a week where where is here here here right here you serious so this is actually where you bring the the to rest to stay with us the vitamins and how often do these organs end up in American bodies W there's more lines from American Site than from Mexico so I hope you don't mind me asking but we're in Mexico and we know that nothing happens here without the knowledge of the cartel so unlike the murder for organ scenario in Colombia anhel says he's buying organs not stealing them but in both instances there's undoubtedly the presence of organized [Music] crime and I've come here to make contact with one [Music] group it's here [Music] foreign foreign fore [Music] [Music] Paloma describes a medical practice in this town where surgeons work hand inand with organized crime profiting from transplants to wealthy Mexicans and Americans [Music] the guy in prison um he's apparently agreed to talk to us apparently he also has a phone in prison and uh he said that only after we speak to him will he decide whether he lets us interview the doctor or not [Music] I've met up again with Paloma who's letting me use her phone to speak with her son-in-law in prison okay you speak English oh yeah you speak English yeah this is a first for me I spoken with crime bosses Behind Bars before but none who've handed me off to their assistant can you tell me how you and and your boss how are you guys involved in the organ trade what's what's what exactly is your role in it you know people come from another countries and they pay a lot of money that they need like lers they need kid or stuff like that the demand for Black Market organs according to is met with a steady supply Supply provided by patients at a local medical clinic do they help us to see if they are some people we just [Music] have you know it's a lot of money so you're saying that sometimes that these people they're not just selling the organs because they want to you're saying that you guys actually force them to is that what you're saying yes yeah and who are who are these people and where do you find them work with you know because trouble for us how so what what do you mean like how is it trouble because how do they know anything I mean if I had thought that here in Mexico this trade was about Commerce not murder but it seems I was mistaken [Music] okay so when that [Music] happens from do you think I could talk to the boss again real quick I I wanted to ask him a couple more questions [Music] for okay okay okay I mean [Music] for the boss never gave me a clear answer about whether they were killing people but it's not hard to read between the lines I'm pass the point of wondering whether this trafficking Network exists what I want to know now is how it actually works and I'm hoping one of the doctors at this Clinic can provide the answers we've been in Columbia we've been to Mexico several times now just waiting for for this interview 3 days pass by before the Call Comes so we've been waiting for um over 2 hours now they were supposed to get here at 2:00 it's now 4:10 this is actually the the sixth doctor that we've contacted the other five backed out hey okay coming down isn't it better so I'm going to put a microphone on you Doctor you know I was actually very very nervous that you weren't going to come so um can you tell me um what is it that you do you're you're a doctor and in the world of the black market what is it that you do exactly where they [Music] [Music] for for something feels off it seems this doctor is only willing to go so far with cameras rolling I [Music] no see they were forced to to give for doctor describes his role as testing Black Market donors and recipients for compatibility before handing the results to transplant surgeons [Music] okay are you in touch with them but they gave you the okay to speak to us today we trust doctors to protect and preserve life but here some combination of coercion and a promise of profit is turning into murderers if I had doubts that the red trade existed in Colombia I have none that it's thriving here in Mexico there is one stun left unturned who are the bias I've spent months looking for an organ recipient willing to speak to me finally from prison pal son-in-law has made an introduction I did because I want to enjoy my life I decided to talk to you because I probably I'm going to be the only one that you're going to find yeah we've been trying for many months you're the first one to agree to talk to us I did what I did to survive in this world there's so many ways to get what you want if you have the move this is a man we'll call Juan 9 months ago he claims that diabetes nearly took his life but he was saved by a pancreas transplant obtained through the same cartel connection how how do you find an organ in a black market or how do you even find the black market a guy with the diabetes you give me a little bit tiny information then I found the rest of the information so you you started asking around and then how soon after were you able to actually get the surgery I mailed my blo work mhm to a certain place mhm and they thought that I was ready how many people were in the team is it a St I don't know I don't know I'm not telling you it's better not telling you you for you for me because for whatever there could be consequences to you telling me for you and for me and how much did you pay for the surgery everything more than $100,000 more than $100,000 more than $200,000 more than $200,000 was it half a million dollar a little bit more a little bit more than half a million dollars and you have 200,000 and I have 300,000 I care I get it you don't so you were ready to pay more than anyone else I was ready to fight for my life I just wanted to be away from the dog the pain I just needed to stop suffering do you know where your pancreas um came from of course not I don't care I don't know nothing I don't want to know nothing I just have the money and I did it if it's a full pancreas then the person that donated the pancreas had to be dead but if it's part of a pancreas it could have been given by a person who's still alive would it make a difference if you knew would you would you have done anything differently if you found out that they had forced somebody or even possibly killed somebody I would I I would have uh no not do it you you would have not done it I didn't done that you know no no no it's not nice so it was just good not to ask questions this is nothing that I wanted to go through this is not the life that I wanted it for me may I ask you a question ma'am if if you were my position if you were me and that's the only choice you got would you do it I have no idea because I you'd have to be in that position you were ready for the question but I I have thought about this many times and I I you know if I think people go to Great Lengths to to survive and to be able to continue living and it's true ethical arguments hit a wall when it comes to our own Survival and and that of our families what wouldn't I do what wouldn't any of us do if our own life or our child's life hung in the balance so you've never felt inclined to go online and try to see where you could possibly get a black market no I mean it's in like the back of your head of like you know would you and you know if someone said like hey I got an Oregon like tomorrow okay let's figure this out do this but like where where can you turn who do you ask who do you find out who do you trust right it's hard enough to find like a weed dealer like let on an [Music] Aran for somebody like Garrett who's playing by the rules who deserves a chance to live our society has an obligation to make a more efficient legal market so there's simply no reason for a black market to exist if we're a way to do it the right way I would do it it is [Music] not

Channel: National Geographic

Views: 1,835,321

Keywords: national geographic, nat geo, natgeo, animals, wildlife, science, explore, discover, survival, nature, culture, documentary, perpetual planet nat geo, photography, full episode, Black Market Organs, Mariana van Zeller, Investigates, Darkest and most Elusive black markets, Black markets in the World, Illicit trade in Human organs, Mariana van Zeller investigates, Most elusive black markets, Illicit trade, Human organs, Trafficked by Mariana van Zeller, Full Episode, Black Market

Id: VRRbOsQgRXU

Length: 44min 24sec (2664 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 29 2023