Police in Istanbul's Esenyurt district raided a privately run hospital and interrupted an illegal organ transplant scheme. Authorities disclosed yesterday the details of the operation carried out on June 21 and said an Israeli national, a Syrian national and a Turkish doctor were detained.

It was discovered that suspects, using false passports to pose as relatives, set an appointment with a Turkish doctor after meeting online. An organ transplant from a recipient not related to the patient is subject to inspection by a medical board under Turkish laws.

The Syrian patient, identified as 32-year-old Ahmed Zina, agreed to sell his kidney to 50-year-old Israeli national Nimer Hayadri for $10,000. Police found out that the Turkish doctor, identified as H.G. agreed to perform the transplant surgery for $35,000. Four suspects, including a man serving as an interpreter for Hayadri, were detained. Hayadri will be deported while his interpreter was released. The doctor and Syrian patient were remanded in custody.

In April, Istanbul police cracked down on a gang of organ smugglers and arrested four suspects who used forged documents to transplant organs in four hospitals in the city. The gang was accused of buying organs from poor people for small sums and selling them to wealthy patients awaiting transplants for large amounts of cash and collected millions of Turkish liras in illegal sales.