Najaf police bust organ trafficking gang, arrest two suspects

NAJAF, Iraq — Police in Najaf have dismantled a gang involved in human organ trafficking in the city's historic center, arresting two suspects, a security source said. The detained individuals include gang members and citizens caught negotiating the sale of their own organs, the source added. The suspects are linked to organizers in Erbil and Iran who coordinate the surgeries, according to the source. They have been transferred to a detention facility to complete investigative procedures. Iraq's Interior Ministry announced on April 15, 2026, that security forces dismantled 36 international and local human trafficking and labor trafficking networks in the first quarter of the year, arresting seven people involved in the buying and sale of human organs. Under Iraqi law, organ trafficking is punishable by death or life imprisonment under the 2016 Law No. 11 on the Prevention of Human Organ Transplantation and Trade and the 2012 Law No. 28 on Combating Human Trafficking. No further details on the Najaf operation were immediately available.