A local court in Islamabad has granted the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) a four-day physical remand of five suspects, including three Chinese nationals, in an investigation into an alleged organ trafficking network.
The suspects were presented before Duty Judge Mian Azhar Nadeem on Friday after being arrested during a joint raid conducted by the FIA and the Human Organ Transplant Authority (HOTA) in Islamabad’s F-7 sector. After hearing the case, the court allowed the FIA to keep the accused in custody for four days to continue its investigation. The agency has also been instructed to present the suspects before the court again after the remand period ends.
According to investigators, the raid led to the recovery of a significant quantity of fresh, dried, and processed human placentas. Officials believe the recovered material may be linked to a wider organ trafficking operation involving the illegal collection and export of human biological material.
The FIA informed the court that the suspects allegedly collected human placentas from both public and private hospitals located in Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and Lahore without proper legal authorization. Investigators suspect that the biological material was gathered through an organized network operating across multiple cities.
Authorities further alleged that the collected placentas were processed before being prepared for shipment overseas. To avoid detection, the items were reportedly mislabeled in export documents as “sheep organs,” allowing them to be transported out of the country under false declarations.
Investigators believe the case may involve a broader criminal network engaged in organ trafficking and related illegal activities. The FIA told the court that additional interrogation of the suspects is necessary to determine the full scale of the operation, identify other individuals involved, and trace the intended international destinations of the shipments.
The investigation remains ongoing, with officials continuing to gather evidence and examine whether additional arrests may be made as the probe into the alleged organ trafficking network progresses.
