Islamabad Raids Close Residential Placenta Processing Network

Overview

• Federal investigators and the Human Organ Transplant Authority raided two Islamabad homes that were being used as unauthorised processing sites and detained multiple suspects from the premises.
• Officials say five people were arrested at the first location, including three named Chinese nationals, and two additional Pakistani workers were held after a second linked raid.
• Authorities recovered large amounts of fresh, dried and processed placenta plus other suspected biological tissue stored in refrigerators and containers at the raid sites.
• Samples have been sent to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences for forensic and medical testing and HOTA has asked prosecutors to file charges under the Human Organs and Tissues Transplantation Act (2010).
• Investigators allege the placenta was collected from hospitals in several Pakistani cities and disguised for export to countries including Vietnam, a development that could trigger wider probes into hospital supply chains and cross‑border trafficking.