Chapter 960: Secret Arrest

Right now, Lu Chuan and his team have two choices.

The first is to continue their secret investigation, gathering substantial evidence before making any arrests.

At present, the evidence they have isn’t definitive. Although they’ve identified the nature of the case through the victims’ circumstances, none of the individuals involved in this gray industry chain have surfaced.

The reason these people sell their kidneys isn’t because they actively want to or someone contacted them, but rather they’re identified during hospital check-ups and then persuaded by doctors to sell their kidneys.

What is certain now is that there are two internal medicine doctors inside the People’s Hospital involved in this, and on the surgery side, there are a few doctors too, though their identities are still unknown. They might be the ones performing the operations.

The specific role these doctors play in the gray industry chain is still unclear.

If these two individuals are simply doing the job for money and know nothing about those higher up, then rash action isn’t warranted. Instead, the secret investigation must continue to fully understand the entire industry chain. Only by mapping out every connection can we perform timely arrests and dismantle the entire operation.

After all, as the saying in adverts goes, there’s no harm without trade.

We also need to clarify where these kidneys are ultimately going. It’s unlikely that people in the USA are using so many kidneys, so the kidney sources must be heading somewhere outside the USA.

Some things become terrifying upon careful consideration, as Lu Chuan has learned from certain situations.

Some elderly, wealthy individuals have practically replaced almost every part of their bodies.

But can it really be so easy for such people to find willing donors for organ matches?

Years ago, it was reported that a case involving organ smuggling was busted in the provincial capital.

The opposite party set up a retirement home that was open to the public for free, but the elders who entered needed to go through eligibility screening.

Ordinary people certainly couldn’t get in; those allowed were either the parents of wealthy individuals or retired high-ranking officials.

Additionally, some lonely elderlies with no family could also get in, passing the screening as long as they had no children or relatives.

Initially, everyone thought it was a charity, with the retirement home gaining good reputation for its meticulous care of the elderly.

It’s said that the staffing ratio at the retirement home was 2:1, meaning two medical staff for one elderly person. Given such a ratio, you can imagine the high cost.

The incident at the retirement home arose because of this dichotomy.

Wealthy and influential elders generally live long lives.

But not so for the lonely elderlies; their average lifespan was short.

After detailed investigation, it was revealed they were using the lonely elderly as free donors.

The poor serving the rich.

This case caused a huge uproar at the time.

This is why organ transplants cannot be commercialized.

To illustrate simply, a billionaire needs a heart transplant, but no suitable donor can be found. Meanwhile, a young man is found during a physical exam to be an ideal match for a heart transplant for the billionaire.

For the young man, a heart transplant means death; there’s no other way.

In a normal situation, would this young man choose death for money? Of course not, because what use is money if he’s dead?

But for the billionaire, it doesn’t matter. As long as organ transplants are commercialized, no matter the cost, he can have the young man killed.

This is reality.

Life is supposed to be equal.

Just because you have money, it doesn’t give you the right to deliberately rob others of their lives.

Thus, organ transplants can never be commercialized. Doing so would mean putting a price on life.

Lu Chuan and his team now have a second option: to arrest the relevant individuals and interrogate them to force out information about the industry chain behind this.

"I don’t think we should make rash arrests," Wang Song remarked with disapproval.

"Since the masterminds behind this allow these people to live freely, it means they’re not afraid of them revealing anything."

In the USA, 19 individuals sold their kidneys, yet the perpetrators took no further action against them. After the sale, these people returned home, having sold so many kidneys, and the perpetrators still allowed them to live well. This indicates that those behind the scenes aren’t worried about them leaking information.

Why?

"I believe it’s simple: these people genuinely know nothing. They just sold their kidneys for cash, knowing nothing about the background," Wang Song stated.

And this is exactly the case. During investigations, though these people knew they sold their kidneys and received 100,000 yuan in cash, they didn’t know who performed the surgery. They only knew they had a check-up at Xi’an Hospital, took a 120 ambulance ride, and upon waking up again, found themselves back at the county hospital. Their kidney was gone, and there was 100,000 yuan by their pillow.

"As for the county hospital doctors, likely they too are just doing the job for money and are unaware of the masterminds," Wang Song speculated.

Lu Chuan listened and nodded slightly.

He too had similar reservations.

It’s clear that it couldn’t be just two or three doctors orchestrating such a massive gray chain. They could possibly be just one link in the chain, playing a role in screening or surgery.

Where the organs ultimately go, who the intermediaries are, what people are involved in the chain, these are likely or almost certainly unknown.

"Captain Lu, see if this works? I have an idea, what if we secretly arrest the doctors involved at the People’s Hospital, and conduct a surprise inspection?" suggested Chen Jiang.

Secret arrest?

Lu Chuan understood what Chen Jiang meant.

Currently, the other side isn’t aware that the police might already be looking into the case, so a secret investigation wouldn’t raise their guard easily.

However, a secret arrest has a disadvantage; after the interrogation, when the opposite party returns to work, they cannot be under constant police surveillance. Is there a possibility they might inform the masterminds?

Wang Song raised that question.

Lu Chuan thought for a moment and shook his head. "I think Chen Jiang’s suggestion is feasible. After all, we have enough manpower here. After the secret arrest and interrogation, we will assign individuals to monitor the person involved."

"Hey, if the other side contacts their behind-the-scenes contact, it might not be a bad thing for us. We can follow the clues to find the connection," he added.