Five Chinese held for illegal blood trade

Beijing, Feb 10 (IANS) Five people in Beijing have been charged with selling blood to patients who badly needed it for surgery, a court has said.

A district court in Beijing heard that the five accused would find blood sellers via the internet and tell them to pretend to be a friend or relative of the patient and helped them go through the necessary hospital procedures, the Shanghai Daily reported Friday.

The leader of the racket -- identified as Er Ge -- is still at large. The five accused acted as middlemen.

The leader would charge up to 2,000 yuan (over $300) from a patient, give the middlemen up to 50 yuan and pay the blood seller around 400 yuan, the accused told the court.

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