MOSCOW: Yuri Para remembers bitterly the day he met the man who bought his kidney. The buyer’s name was Mikhail, and he was an ex-boxer from Russia. Yuri was paid $5,000 for the organ — a transaction which sent his health into an irreversible downward spiral.

Para, 22, was one of three Moldovan men who travelled to a private clinic in Turkey and sold their own organs in an attempt to lift themselves out of grinding poverty. He is just one of hundreds of victims of a growing international trade, which originated in the former Soviet Union and is often run by organized gangs of criminals.

Evidence is now emerging that illegal transplant operations are being carried out in Italy, say European officials, who are urging emergency legislation to stop the trade.

In an interview, Ruth Gaby Vermot Mangold, who is investigating the issue for the Council of Europe, said: “The problem is getting worse and growing as the need for kidneys and livers is growing.” As success rates for transplants rise, so does the need for donors. She said they were increasingly concerned at attempts by some European countries to ease legal restrictions on organ donations, facilitating the criminal sale of organs.

A report for the Council of Europe was requested by an Italian MP, concerned at the spread of the traffic.

“Everybody here (in Chisnau) knows there are private clinics in Turkey,” he said. “They look here for people who are interested and then you sign a contract. There are many people like me. They told me that everything is voluntary and this is not a criminal affair. It was my biggest mistake.”

Para travelled with two other Moldovan men on Feb 21 to Istanbul. They were taken to the private clinic late at night, and left early in the morning five days later. The man (who got my kidney) is an ex-boxer. I spoke to him on the fourth day (after the transplant) and he told me he was 45 and his kidney was damaged in the fights. He asked me if everything was OK. He said: “Do you have the 20,000 greens (dollars)?” I immediately understood what had happened. I only got $5,000. Another man got only $3,000.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.