NBI makes first catch in illegal kidney trade

In the first such arrest, a 38-year-old alleged middleman in illegal organ donor activities was arrested by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents in an entrapment operation in Taguig City.

Special Investigator III Joey Narciso of the NBI-National Capital Region Division (NCRD) said they have filed charges before the local prosecutor’s office against Dennis Permites, who was apprehended in his rented apartment in Purok 1, Upper Bicutan last Thursday.

NBI-NCRD regional director Ruel Lasala said this was the first time that the bureau has ever apprehended a suspect facilitating the sale of human kidneys.

"During the raid we also found record files of alleged kidney donor operations from 2005 until this year. In two years, he facilitated some 40 operations wherein we estimate that he receives a P100,000 commission for every operation," Narciso said.

Permites was charged with violating Republic Act 9208, otherwise known as the Anti-Trafficking of Persons of Act of 2003, specifically Section 4, Paragraph G that penalizes acts to "recruit, hire, adopt, transport or abduct of a person by means of a threat or use of force, fraud, deceit, violence, coercion or intimidation for the purpose of removal or sale of organs of said person."

If convicted, Permites may serve 20 years in prison and pay a fine of between P1 million and P2 million. He is currently detained at the NBI-NCRD jail. The charge is bailable.

During the arrest, the suspect reportedly presented a Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) card showing that he is a licensed physical therapist. But Narciso said they would have to validate the authenticity of the card next week.

One of Permites’ victims, Jose Rivero, 31, a tricycle driver, of Barangay Concepcion, Lumban, Laguna, approached the suspect because he wanted to raise money to buy a tricycle.

The suspect reportedly promised to pay him P300,000 for donating his kidney. He also promised to give him free lodging until the operation, free maintenance medication after the operation, meal tickets for the hospital canteen, and that the operation would be conducted in a private hospital in Quezon City.

But Permites allegedly had difficulty finding a match for the victim’s kidney, and Rivero was forced to stay at the suspect’s apartment for 10 months from January to October this year until the recipient of the kidney, also a Filipino, was able to raise the amount to cover the operation expenses.

An eight-inch scar on the left side of Rivero’s body was the only indication that the operation pushed through.

After the Oct. 10 surgery, while recuperating in the private hospital, the victim reportedly saw the recipient’s wife hand over the payment to the middleman. Upon his discharge from the hospital, the tricycle driver went to the suspect to claim his P300,000.

However, instead of getting the full payment, he was paid in installments such as P35,000, P10,000, P5,000, or a total amount of P50,000. The victim asked for an additional P10,000, but the suspect allegedly refused.

Permites explained Rivero only received a small amount because he had to deduct the expenses he incurred such as lodging, food and operation. But after being incessantly badgered for more money, the suspect allegedly gave in and promised to give the victim P10,000 as the last payment.

At around 7 p.m. last Thursday, Rivero, accompanied by Narciso, who posed as his cousin, went to the middleman’s rented apartment. After receiving the payment, the NBI operatives apprehended him. The authorities also found six other male kidney donors inside the safehouse. — Evelyn Macairan