Blood dealers are no longer only in front of blood centers, but also in social networks. How does the blood mafia work in Burgas?
Early morning in the city. Traders are already in front of the blood donation center in the city. About a dozen men are on duty. They come, ask, offer their blood. The price for a bag of blood is BGN 250, reports Nova TV.
"But they are not the only ones who offer blood in return. Very often blood is requited with money or some other favor even between relatives. But we have no way of knowing it. The person comes to us and says the name of the patient for whom he is donating. But we have no idea how this person is motivated to come to us. He claims to be a volunteer," says Dr. Lyudmila Zhelyazkova, head of the "Department of Transfusion Hematology".
Despite claiming to be volunteers from the blood center they filed reports against their presence. The police came, checked the identity cards, and the so-called donors always had an explanation.
Kristina from Burgas, who is trying to save her father, was also faced with the demand for blood a few months ago. The world vice-champion in classical wrestling among veterans Lyubomir Lambov had a serious accident, he also needs platelet mass from a rare blood group.
"In total, I needed 65 blood donors in two months, which you understand is extremely difficult to achieve. To find as many people as possible to donate blood voluntarily. Thanks to the fact that he was an athlete and quite famous in sports circles, many people responded to my call to donate blood," says Kristina Lambova.
Kristina writes an appeal on social networks, which activates dozens of blood dealers. Initially registered as anonymous donors, who later became much more aggressive in private messages and in search of advance payment, except for a bag of blood, and for travel.
"There were people who said that they were ready to donate blood, but since they are from other cities, it is desirable, they simply put it as a requirement, that I cover their travel expenses, which were in the amount of at least BGN 200. I didn't have to use their services," adds Lambova.
The NOVA team connects with a merchant through a social media ad. The arrangement is for a 450 ml bag. blood. The contract amounts to BGN 1,300. There is also a cheaper option, but everyone claims that money is also needed for travel.
There are many ads on social networks for trading blood and blood plasma. There are no official reports received by the police. "There are no signals, perhaps because those who organize the campaigns, it is in their interest to collect blood faster for loved ones, for relatives, for friends. And of course, they will not file a report," says the head of the 5th police station at the Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Burgas, Georgi Iliev.
There is not a single case of blood sale in the court records in recent years. Because the evidence for bringing charges by the prosecutor's office is usually extremely insufficient.
"It should be noted that the punishment for such a crime is imprisonment from two to eight years and a fine from BGN 3,000 to 12,000. But, as you know, the perpetrators of such crimes are very clever. The people who use them are mostly of Roma origin, and it is very difficult for them to be held accountable, because as a result they change their testimony as well. In practice, the law enforcement agencies remain defenseless, they cannot take any action", says judge Anatoli Bobokov.
According to the same article of the Penal Code, six people have been convicted in the Burgas District Court in the last five years, but not for trafficking in blood, but trafficking in children and human trafficking. "The law punishes whoever recruits persons who give their body fluids or an organ or anything from their organism to someone for payment," Bobokov points out.
According to criminologists, the trade in organs on the black market is much more disturbing. "In the past, there was information about the deportation of children, mainly of Roma origin. I have worked on the cases, but soon we will not have such signals", explains Iliev.
The sale of blood exists because of the chronic shortage and increasing need for blood, experts are convinced. "In the whole city, in all medical institutions, we need nearly 10 thousand bags of blood, which means 10 thousand blood donors, healthy and without any diseases. In which, eventually, their blood will come out clean of infections, of atypical bodies and can be used. Otherwise, there were 8,400 blood donors in Burgas last year," says Dr. Zhelyazkova.