In June 2011 we wrote about a strange case of a 17-year-old Chinese boy who sold one of his kidneys for $3,500 so he could afford a then-new iPad 2 tablet. At the time, police had been attempting to track down the parties responsible for both the surgery and the seedy organ trading ring behind it all. Now, nearly a year later, the young man is in the hospital and a total of five people have been arrested.

The mother of the boy was first tipped off to her son's unorthodox dealings when she noticed him playing with the brand new Apple tablet. Knowing he couldn't have afforded it on his own, she grilled him until he confessed that he was now without one of his kidneys thanks to the shady operation.

Five individuals — two of which are employees of a local hospital, including the surgeon who removed the organ — are now facing various charges. According to police, the kidney itself sold for roughly $35,000, most of which went to the man who organized the scam. He reportedly arranged the odd trade to help pay off gambling debts. Meanwhile, the young man who had the organ removed — identified only as "Wang" in police documents — now suffers from a renal deficiency as a result of the procedure.

[via Escapist]

(Source)

This article originally appeared on Tecca

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