The Tokyo-based NPO ‘Intractable Disease Patients’ Support Group’ is suspected of arranging for kidney transplants for Japanese patients in Belarus without obtaining proper permits. The 62-year-old suspect, Kikuchi, has been accused of organ trafficking in August 2022 and is currently under investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department.
Kikuchi is suspected of operating an illegal organ transplant business in Belarus. It is believed that he solicited a man in his 50s from the Kanto region for a kidney transplant without obtaining permission from the Health, Labor and Welfare Minister. The man transferred approximately 18.5 million yen to an NPO’s bank account for the cost of the transplant, and then Kikuchi took him to Belarus where he received a kidney transplant at a local hospital.
The man was shocked to learn that the ‘live transplant’ he had paid for was actually an organ donation from a deceased individual. Kikuchi explained that Belarus has a quota for foreigners seeking such transplants, but the man had been misled about the procedure. In reality, it is illegal to sell organs in Japan, and the man had paid a significant sum of money for something that he could have received for free. The local market for a kidney transplant is estimated at 8.1 million yen, meaning that the NPO likely profited by several million yen after accounting for travel and accommodation expenses.
The NPO has been dogged by suspicion of organ trafficking in the past, with investigations suggesting that Kikuchi asked the same Turkish man who arranged a hospital in Kyrgyzstan to seek transplants in Sri Lanka and the Philippines. In October 2022, Belarus approached a medical company about accepting patients, claiming to be an organization officially recognized by the Japanese government. The Metropolitan Police Department believes that they intended to continue mediation extensively even after the news was reported. On February 7th, Kikuchi was arrested for arranging a liver transplant for a Japanese man in his 40s in Belarus.