A citizen of Israel wanted by Interpol on suspicion of organ trafficking was detained in Istanbul’s Ataturk airport on Friday, Turkish paper Today’s Zaman reported.
According to the report, the man, named as Boris Walker, was arrested on arrival from Bangkok.
Turkish police were said to have launched an investigation into Walker’s contacts in Istanbul.
Last year, a former soccer player for Hapoel Beersheba, Uzi Shmueli, was arrested in Cyprus on similar suspicions. Shmueli allegedly headed a crime ring that lured struggling young Israeli women, mostly from the south of the country, to Turkey and paid them NIS 20,000 (some $5,750) for a kidney.
In 2013, Israeli citizen Gedaliah Taub was detained in Rome on suspicion of human organ trafficking. He was detained at the city’s airport after officials determined his passport was forged.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
In the same year, an alleged organ trafficking ring was exposed by Costa Rican police. The ring also worked with Israeli doctors, according to Haaretz. The doctors had performed kidney-removal operations on some Costa Ricans who sold their organs, according to the paper.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
