Romania busts Israeli human egg-trafficking ring

Bucharest, Feb 19 (AFP) Romanian police today busted a human egg-trafficking ring involving Israeli specialists in assisted reproduction, just months after several Israeli doctors were sentenced in a similar case. Police and prosecutors said the network consisted of 11 people, including Israeli doctors and Romanian managers of a Bucharest clinic, but declined to say how many people were detained as the searches were ongoing. According to police, the suspects recruited Romanian women -- mostly impoverished students -- and paid them 600 to 800 euros (USD 800-1,100) for their eggs. They then sold them for up to 4,000 euros to Israeli couples seeking assisted fertilisation. "The suspects made huge profits through this illegal human egg trafficking", prosecutors said in a statement. In November, a Romanian court sentenced four Israeli doctors in absentia to five years in prison for a similar egg-trafficking case. (AFP) SAI 02192101 NNNN