KAZAN, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – A criminal case against two forensic surgeons suspected of involvement in illicit trade of human body parts has been opened in Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, regional investigators said Monday.
Media reports earlier speculated that surgeons from Tatarstan’s Republican Forensics Bureau removed heels and knee cartilage from the bodies of diseased people, extracted bone tissue from these parts and sold it to private dentists and cosmetic surgery firms.
The probe was prompted after a truck was stopped in June carrying body parts instead of blood and its components, as it was supposed to be according to papers accompanying the cargo.
“An investigation in line with a criminal case against officials from the Republican Forensics Bureau is underway,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
Two senior officials from the bureau were detained and questioned on Monday on suspicion of “abuse of authority,” according to Gazeta.ru.
Protein-rich collagen, extracted from bone tissue, is widely used in cosmetic surgery and in a wide variety of dental, orthopedic and surgical procedures.
