Notorious ‘human organ trader’ detained in Russia after Interpol operation

A notorious organ trafficker wanted by Interpol has been detained in Russia.

Boris Wolfman, 40, was held at Moscow airport suspected of supplying human body parts to an underground clinic in Pristina, Kosovo.

The dual Ukrainian Israeli citizen could face up to 15 years in jail after being deported from Turkey, according to reports.

Wolfman has been accused of running a human organ trafficking racket stretching across the Atlantic from Costa Rica to Kosovo.

He openly advertised bypassing waiting lists for people in need of kidney, heart or liver transplants.

‘It’s God’s work,’ he claimed, and his company was called ‘In the Name of Heaven’.

Wolfman, who famously enjoyed a jet-setting life with his glamorous wife, was repeatedly accused of paying a ‘pittance’ for vital organs and selling them on for enormous sums.

He has repeatedly denied any illegal activity.

His clients were reportedly from the US, Canada, Israel, and Germany, who paid up to £150,000 for a healthy kidney.

He obtained organs from ‘refugees and needy people’ from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova, it has been alleged.

Wolfman was previously detained in Turkey on suspicion of seeking to harvest organs from impoverished Syrian refugees and give them to wealthy clients.

He was also held in Albanian capital Tirana, and in Israel. 

In previous law enforcement documents, he was described as ‘self-confident, earnest and smoothly reassuring’ with ‘piercing blue eyes, a shag of jet black hair and a distinctive tattoo that drapes his right shoulder’.

His latest detention this week was seen on video at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, the culmination of a long-running Russian probe dating back almost two decades. 

‘He was wanted by Russian law enforcement on charges of human trafficking as part of an organised group and of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm,’ said Major-General Irina Volk, of the Interior Ministry in Moscow. 

‘According to investigators, between 2006 and 2008 the suspect was a member of a transnational organised group engaged in human trafficking for the removal of vital organs for use in the shadow transplant industry.

‘The perpetrator and his accomplices exploited the trust of several Russian citizens, persuading them to travel to Kosovo and agree, in exchange for money, to operations for the removal of their kidneys. 

‘As a result of the illegal procedures in a private medical clinic in Pristina, the donors sustained grievous bodily injuries.’

He was detained after ‘an international search for the suspect was launched’ involving Interpol. 

‘Through cooperation with foreign partners via Interpol channels, his whereabouts were established in Turkey.

‘As a result of coordinated action between the Russian Interpol Bureau and international counterparts, the wanted man was deported from Turkey. 

‘Upon arrival from Istanbul to Moscow, he was detained by the authorities who initiated the search.’

Lately, Wolfman has become an exporter of canola oil from Turkish producers to an Israeli supermarket chain.

He also supplies citrus fruits from Turkey to Israel, say reports. He owns a packaging house in Turkey.

He was previously quoted as saying: ‘In our company, we don’t have any contact with the organ….

 ‘All we can do is obligate the client to make sure that this is not something that has to do with organ trafficking.

‘If a person decides to break the law, that’s between that person and the law.’