Li Hao

A 25-YEAR-OLD man went to a legal aid center in eastern China’s Nanjing City to seek advice over a lost kidney.

Xiao Hai (alias) has been in poor health since one of his kidneys was forcibly removed and sold by his employer last October.

After graduating from a junior college in July 2010, Xiao Hai was employed by a medical instrument company in Nanjing. The company promised a good salary but he later found that his employer did not have a business license.

On Xiao Hai’s second day at the workplace, which was located in a three-bedroom apartment, he was sent to hospital for a medical.

“It is a standard practice to send new employees for a medical. However, the medical I went through was more detailed and complicated than the normal procedure,” recalled Xiao Hai.

In late October, the boss, Wang Jin, told Xiao Hai that he would sell one of the boy’s kidneys to a client in Xuzhou, another city in Jiangsu Province.

Xiao Hai could not escape because Wang was holding his identity card. Wang ordered four people to prevent him from escaping.

That night, Xiao Hai was taken to a health service center on the outskirts of Xuzhou. He was given a drink of water that turned out to contain sedatives. When he woke up the next morning, he found himself tied up and one of his kidneys had gone.

“I felt weak and helpless,” recalled Xiao.

The health center received 200,000 yuan (US$30,769) from the kidney buyer and Xiao Hai was given 60,000 yuan, half of which went to Wang.

With the help of a colleague, Xiao Hai went back to Nanjiang. However, Wang had disappeared.

Xiao Hai later found many of his young colleagues had had the same experience. He and two others informed the police.

After the kidney was removed, Xiao Hai’s waist would frequently be in pain and he would suffer memory loss, which he suspected was a side-effect of the sedatives.

Wang has now been arrested.

Lawyers at the legal aid center are helping Xiao Hai claim compensation for his loss.

Xiao Hai’s story is just one example of rampant illegal organ trafficking in China, which has drawn the attention of the government.

The Ministry of Health launched a crackdown on illegal human organ transplants April 18, which will last until the end of this year.

The campaign targets mainly illegal organ transplants performed by medical institutions without authorization, the ministry said in a circular, vowing “harsh punishment” and zero tolerance of violators.