An across-continent’s scandal… Brazilian police have just reported that they discovered some lab-made human organs that have been harvested and sent in a package to an Indonesian fashion designer…
An odd package was sent to Singapore from Brazil. This package, as Brazilian Federal Police claim following an investigative anti-trafficking operation on Tuesday, contained a human hand and three sacks of human placenta.
The operation was carried out at UEA, the Amazonas State University in Manaus. They discovered that the recipient was supposed to be a famous Indonesian designer that works with accessories and garments made from very particular material… let’s say, materials that come from human nature. The designer is infamous in Indonesia already, thanks to the handbag they made in 2020 made from human bones. The designer’s name is Arnold Putra, and although they have claimed repeatedly that the bones were “ethically” and “medically sourced from Canada with papers”, many are still very uncomfortable by the mere concept of it.
The Brazilian police managed to find this package thanks to multiple undisclosed tip-offs and raided the UEA anatomy lab. They found the organs being fully preserved due to plastination. Plastination is a form of preserving organs by replacing the natural bodily fluids and fats of the organs with other synthetic materials like silicone and epoxy.
The Brazilian police released a statement about the raid: “The anatomy lab of a local university performed the extraction of body fluids… There are indications that a package containing a hand and three placentas of human origin were posted from Manaus to Singapore.”
The contents of the package, however, have left Brazil already. The interception of this package is still not clear, and it may be already near to arriving to Singapore now.
Concerning the University, they did not reach out for additional comments other than releasing an Instagram post with a statement in Portuguese. The key points read, “The rectory of the University of Amazonas complied with the court order and determined the opening of the investigation to investigate the facts and responsibilities.”
So far, it is known that a member of their staff has been suspended as police carry out their operation, and have placed the professor under investigation. If the professor is seen as guilty for internationally trafficking human organs, they may face up to 8 years in jail according to Brazilian law.
Brazil faces a tough history of crime involving human trafficking, and the buying and selling of human organs is a state crime punishable by law. However, the legal situation concerning trafficking human organs becomes complicated when multiple countries are involved.
In other news about the human body, the new breast cancer vaccine enters human trials for the first time ever!