an ancient city, at asha's kidney was stolen, the heart of a vile trade. and she never saw her sister cairo hides or her sister's family again. breonna taylor. the 26—year—old emergency a terrible industry — medical technician was shot eight times by police who burst the sale of human body parts. into her home in the middle of the night, during there's a shortage of transplant organs around the world. some of those who need a kidney she thinks they were a mistaken drugs raid. come here, where the organs are harvested from the poor. murdered for their organs. the victims are mainly translation: we don't know where they are. now on bbc news, panorama. migrants and refugees, i wish theyjust took a kidney who pass through egypt tonight on panorama — from each of them and left them the illegal sale of human organs. i found myself in a room alive, but they took them all. there is no government on their way to europe. with blood everywhere. it's illegal, it's to protect you. unethical, it is immoral. they're exploited for their organs. some of them may receive a very the horrifying trade small financial remuneration. some of them will receive i thought about suicide, absolutely nothing at all. but who would i leave and this is exploitation, my kids with? in human flesh. and it's a form of modern—day slavery. there literally asking that person, in different types of need. —— if it cuts of meat. so, how can we access this criminal underworld? well, sean columb is an academic who's travelled we're on the trail of to egypt many times we've no evidence that asha's the organ traffickers. to meet those who've relatives were killed, we need to be careful. sold their kidneys. but it does happen. we don't what he's capable of.

we track down the criminals who profit... i'm going to check that camera, a dead individual will and if something isn't right, be far more lucrative i will delete everything on it. so, these are all notes than an individual who is alive, because an individual who's passed away can donate up to, you know, ..and the victims whose bodies are butchered. 00:01:11,212 --> 2147483051:37:20,320 i made this mistake and i don't 2147483051:37:20,320 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 want another girl to make it. could facilitate up to nine transplants. from different conversations. and every organ comes with a price, so you will make a lot more money if you have someone who has died. couldn't find regular work and someone approached him. so, i've no doubt that there a broker approached him will be some areas in the world promised him a lot of money, 5000 euros, to sell his where people are killed kidney, and he agreed for their organs. to sell his kidney. simply because they will make more money from it. this particular woman, she was only 22 years of age. this was particularly extreme. she was... in egypt, the bodies beaten and blindfolded, and physically coerced of migrants and refugees have into giving up her kidney. reportedly been discovered when you're doing interviews, in the desert with their organs you're in the moment sometimes missing. we have pictures that appear and i think, for me, to show how they were cut up it really hits me when i get for body parts. back, um, i wish i most are too upsetting to show. could do more to help. that's what's so terrifying

about human trafficking. it's why it's such a heinous crime, because it removes all humanity from the person involved. and because of that, they literally do see them in the same way that sean has agreed to show you sort of look, you know, at these pictures of cows us the illegal trade. he's travelled to egypt and they're, the cut, with our producer, laura. different cuts of meat, it's a riskyjob. it really is quite literally treating a human being like that. globally, between 5% and 10% of transplants are thought the government here locks up to use black market organs. critical journalists. so, the only option that's thousands of illegal operations every year. we want to find out is to pretend to be tourists. more about the criminal james bond? but it's difficult because the people we need to talk networks in egypt. and this is one part of cairo where they meet. to live far from the tourist sites. they are migrants from it's where you come neighbouring countries when you want to sell a kidney like sudan, with no on the black market. sean has met some of his best contacts here. money and no rights. like ahmad. translation: life is too hard. but it's a dangerous place to film. i didn't come this is where donors are signed

here as a tourist. up — not a doctor's surgery most people come or a hospital to egypt to work. i have younger siblings who but a coffee shop. the start of an illegal have forgotten about school. they go to work, life there is so tough. he sobs so, this medical procedure. is what ahmad did. so, this is what ahmad did. as far as the cases of trafficking persons for organs removal the bribery, the terrible scar that corruption of personnel working — medical personnel, doctors, of course, it's a characteristic of this marks out the victim. ahmad sold a kidney for $4,000. form of trafficking. he was told to say he was donating his kidney to a relative for free. translation: we went to the ministry of health to give them my consent. finding criminals who'll talk they don't care if you lie. about the organ trade they asked me about my relationship with that man. is proving difficult. i told them, he's my relative. they wrote that and asked me to sign and give my fingerprints,

so i did. and we've got another problem. the secret police are everywhere. this time it's a bit more difficult. i think there's a lot more attention on foreign tourists and what their activities are and what we're doing here. for example, we took some photographs and a policeman in plain clothes stopped us and asked if he could see our camera, looked through the pictures, and he wanted ahmad was paid for his kidney. to know why we were there, and he asked a lot of questions he gave the money to people smugglers to take him and i'm concerned that to europe, but they ripped him off. now he's lost everything. we are being followed. translation: ijust wanted to make my family happy and my daughter, i only have one daughter, and i didn't see her for... about five or six years. i would sell my heart, my eyes — anything to make but despite this attention, we m m' happy. eventually make a breakthrough. a former organ trafficker has agreed to talk about the brutal trade. he says hejoined one of the gangs after selling his own kidney. he's very nervous. ahmad could pay the price for the rest of his life.

removing a kidney, without proper medical supervision, can have translation: i met the broker and we made an agreement, then we made the medical checks. serious implications. everything stops... ..when there's a bang on the door. it's a very, what was that? very risky business. whether that risk is short—term or whether that risk is long—term, it's a very, very risky business and you really are gambling with your life. you could die in the we hide our cameras. short—term, or you could die many years later, but the important thing is that that act of donation may have taken life years away from that individual and we simply just it's a neighbour wondering don't know how many years what we're up to. of life are taken away we send them away but the former trafficker is spooked. he says his job was to find people willing to sell from some of these individuals. their kidneys — before there are five million migrants and refugees in egypt. most are not allowed to work passing them up the chain. so they're vulnerable to the organ traffickers. i think it's very hard for people in the uk often translation: i bring to imagine the desperation the donors, take them

that some people — to the broker, particularly in countries in war zones, for example, they make the deal. or in countries where there's serious famine — then what does this broker do? there's nothing really that we've experienced on those levels, so we don't really know the, um... translation: he takes him it's very hard for us sometimes to actually understand why these individuals have been literally forced to make these to a flat, takes him choices that we find to the hospital. they keep your passport. very hard to imagine. the next day they take the sale of human organs them for medical checks, is banned in egypt and many check your blood group, other countries, but illegal do an ultrasound and many other checks. transplants still take place in hospitals and clinics around the world. victims are sometimes tricked these may take around a week. during this week, they take into having a kidney removed. them to the ministry of health to sign a document as an organ donor, then they take that consent and take them to the they get promises that they will recover fast. in some cases, the victims are convinced by the traffickers hospital with the recipient. that their kidneys will grow again. they are deceived with these promises, attracted by some amount of money. we can't verify what he's told us. and then they are left dying,

of course, after the... but the involvement of corrupt officials and doctors has been the transplant, or their health corroborated in dozens of our expert's previous interviews. so, the broker pays a bribe to a select member of the egyptian ministry of health to approve the paperwork without asking will be damaged for life. too many questions. the consent forms, they're a legal document, a statement explaining that the donation is altruistic, that it's free of financial gain, that there is no commercial transaction, and that the donor is giving his free or her free and informed consent. it's hard to get to the victims. they could be arrested just for talking about their role in illegal operations. we are using safe houses and protecting their identities. but any of the people i've some never get the money spoke to who've sold a kidney they've simply signed the form, or used a fingerprint. they haven't read the form. they're promised. others have organs removed against their will. asha wanted to get to the egyptian government says europe with her children and her sister's family. a people smuggler agreed to do it's "won praise and approval" it and said she could pay him internationally for its back when she was there. strategy "to eliminate

this heinous crime." it's made arrests and says the illegal operations " happen in clinics or private hospitals" but not government hospitals. translation: he told me, it's so easy. there's "no proof of you can work and pay the involvement of any me the money back. government official." we didn't have any money. he said he'd do everything for us. he took me to alexandria. me and my sister, with her we need to get to one of the gang leaders — but it's getting harder to film in cairo. we've been repeatedly daughters and her husband. stopped and checked by the plain clothes police. now one of them seems to be taking a particular interest. yesterday when we came back to the hotel the police officer who stopped us was here, and during the day when we were they were told the boat to europe was leaving the next walking, looking for a location to film, we were followed

day, but that never happened. for maybe two or three hours — asha thinks she was drugged. when she woke up, her kidney had been removed. it's time to move. translation: i found myself in a room, with blood everywhere. the door was locked everywhere we go there's eyes and i started kicking it. on us, it's very difficult then i called the police to operate, very difficult to move. and they came and got me. if you stay in one place too they took me to the hospital. there, they told me my kidney long, every move we make is under surveillance. had been removed and they put a bandage on it. i couldn't sleep. the wound was still open, so there in the hospital, 00:09:28,871 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 they stitched it properly. the team keep changing hotels. then we make another breakthrough. we make contact with a leading member of one of the criminal gangs. sean has never spoken to someone that high up before. it's risky but we send him the details of a safe location to meet. brokers — they work in a network, there's different roles. when we say brokers,

we're really talking about a network. there's not one person in particular in charge. usually there's someone who will recruit people. so it could be someone from sudan who recruits migrants from sudan. for them it's not necessarily a full—time job. the other brokers who have established connections with the labs and the doctors, for them — this is a big business. eventually, we get a message. he's on his way. it's a nervous moment. he's much more deeply involved than anyone we've talked to before. we need to be careful — we don't know who he is and what he's capable of. i don't think he's going to agree to talk in front of cameras, but we can try.

but when the broker arrives, he agrees to be interviewed. he says his gang alone is arranging 20 to 30 illegal transplants a week. translation: i've been involved in the organ trade since 2003. all nationalities buy from cairo, because it's available. is there a lot of hospitals involved? translation: yes, a lot. public and private. are there a lot of people selling their kidneys at the moment? translation: yes, but it's busiest in the summer, because kidney patients get sicker, they drink a lot of water because of the hot weather. we have a lot of work during that period from all over the world. and the people who don't get paid what they're promised, how do you feel about that? translation: i give

them their money. other people agree a price, but never pay up after the surgery. does this happen often? translation: about 40% of the cases. so he says almost half of victims never get paid. the broker then reveals something that suggests the trade is even more corrupt than we thought. a charity has been helping the gang to find victims. translation: we deal in sudan with a specific organisation, but i can't talk about it. so ngos are involved in this business? translation: yes. it's a sudanese organisation. the broker refuses to tell us any more. and he insists on checking our recording.

translation: i'm going to check that camera and if something isn't right, i will delete everything on it. the broker has confirmed that corrupt doctors and officials are involved in the illegal organ trade. and what we found is that the corruption and false paperwork can be used to keep victims quiet. even when they don't get paid. another scar, another victim. hiba was persuaded to sell a kidney to pay for her wedding. translation: i found myself in the room after the surgery, i woke up screaming.

my wound was so big, i didn't know it would be on my back, i thought it would be on my belly. i got so scared, i was screaming, "this is wrong — you cheated me. " when the organ traffickers didn't pay her, hiba threatened to report everyone involved. translation: people called the doctor and told him there's a patient you did surgery on and she wasn't paid. he took the documents i signed to a lawyer, so if i tell the police, they can prove i donated my kidney voluntarily. the paperwork was used to prevent hiba from reporting what had happened.

the consent form says she agreed to donate her kidney for free. anything else is illegal. translation: i was going to the police station, but people told me that if i report them, the police may arrest me as well. the egyptian government denies hiba would have been arrested. it says, "victims have the right to report these gangs without fear," on its hotlines. and it has "increased the maximum punishment for organised criminal gangs to life imprisonment". but criminals are still making millions of dollars from black—market transplants. and its individual lives that are broken.

translation: i made this mistake and i don't want another girl to make it. so my advice to anybody who wants to donate, don't donate for money. it's time for our team to get out of egypt. but that's not so easy for those caught up in the organ trade. tonight in cairo the latest victims are preparing to go under the knife. selling their own body parts. human beings

butchered for profit.

this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley. our top stories: history at the white house — as israel signs a peace deal with two arab countries. these agreements prove that the nations of the region are breaking free from the failed approaches of the past. today's signing sets history on new course. coronavirus in india pass 5

million. humanity at a crossroads,