Mitra Keluarga Karyasehat, Indonesia largest listed hospital operator, came under spotlight over the weekend after a heartbreaking case of 4-month baby girl death at one of his hospital became viral in the country's social media. (ID Photo/Emral Firdansyah)

Jakarta. The National Police's general crimes unit announced on Wednesday (27/1) that they have arrested three men for allegedly selling kidneys in an illegal operation that raked in hundreds of millions of rupiahs, duping more than a dozen victims.

Sr. Comr. Umar Surya Fana, a senior official at the police unit, said the three, identified only as A.G., D.D., and H.S., had been selling kidneys since June, charging buyers between Rp 200 million and Rp 300 million ($14,430-$21,645) each while giving donors just Rp 75 million.

Umar said most of the donors were poor and uneducated laborers who had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

“This is an unbelievable crime. The victims are supposed to get [medical] treatment for three months after their kidneys were removed. But [the suspects] failed to provide that and so the money received by the victims were spent on [medical] treatment,” he said.

Umar said the three suspects had worked with at least three hospitals in Jakarta and the West Java capital, from finding buyers to finding suitable donors to performing the kidney removal operation. However, the officer said no medical staff members from the hospitals have been charged.

“We are targeting several doctors at three hospitals,” Umar said. “We are also investigating whether there are any kickbacks channeled to these doctors. But even if there aren't, at the very least we can charge [the doctors] with malpractice or under the human trafficking law.”

Edited by Nivell Rayda