10 people detained for blood trade during a special operation in Sofia

10 people were detained for blood trafficking in Sofia.

Members of a criminal organisation, that attracted individuals and groups of people with the purpose of using them for gathering human tissue - blood and blood components, were detained during an operation by the General Directorate Combating Organized Crime (GDBOP), the Capital Directorate of Interior and the Main Directorate of Gendarmerie, Special Operations and Counter-Terror.

10 people were detained for 24 hours, with searches and confiscation of belongings and documents from five addresses. Interrogation of a number of witnesses is also taking place - donors, as well as individuals, that have paid for the blood.

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It is suspected that the 10 detained have been gathering people in financial need, including those that have outstanding debts, and have been forcing them to sell their blood in turn for the income that they would receive from the deal and use it to pay their debts.

There are always people around the centres for blood donation in the capital, especially the one between the 2nd Regional Police Station and Hristo Botev Blvd., that offer others with ill relatives to donate blood in return for a document that should be presented in hospitals when scheduled operations are being conducted.

Blood donation is voluntary, but donors are scarce, which is why there is often a shortage of blood banks in the hospitals.