Buzz
The market for the deceased is unsettlingly lucrative. Corpses are highly sought after, whether for ritual or medical use. People will risk their freedom, and even their lives, to exploit the dead for profit. These strange cases of body trafficking are only the ones that were exposed. The extent of this grim trade in the shadows is still unknown.
10. Fetal Tissue Pills
In 2012, authorities in South Korea intercepted thousands of pills containing the powdered remains of fetuses. Marketed as energy supplements, the pills were actually meant to satisfy a disturbing demand for cannibalistic practices. Manufactured in China, the pills sparked an international dispute, with each country blaming the other for the scandal.
Aborted and stillborn infants were used in this process. After refrigeration, the bodies were subjected to microwave drying. They were then ground into a powder, blended with herbs, and encapsulated. In China, the consumption of aborted fetuses and placentas is a traditional practice, as they are viewed as an extension of the mother.
This unconventional remedy is believed to enhance sperm production and improve circulation. In 2007, Hong Kong's Next Magazine reported that fetuses had become a popular health supplement in China. They mentioned that demand had far exceeded supply, prompting buyers to obtain them directly from hospitals.
9. Sacred Bones
In 2011, a Cypriot monk and his two associates were apprehended at an Athens airport while attempting to smuggle the bones of a nun out of Greece. The monk argued that the remains were sacred relics belonging to a saint.
The Cypriot Orthodox Church does not recognize Eleni Vathiadou as a saint. Authorities suspect that the monk had financial motivations behind attempting to smuggle her bones out of Greece.
However, there are suspicions that some factions of the Cypriot Orthodox Church may have secretly venerated Ms. Vathiadou. She had been a nun in Cyprus but passed away in Greece four years before the incident.
The 56-year-old monk faced only a mild punishment for his actions. He was suspended from his church for just three months and was charged with theft and desecration of the dead—a minor offense in Greece.
8. Dark Ritual Infants
In 2012, Thai authorities discovered six deceased babies in a Bangkok hotel. The infants, ranging from two to six months old, had been roasted and wrapped in gold leaf. The gruesome discovery was found in the luggage of Chow Hok Kuen, a British citizen of Taiwanese descent. After his arrest, Chow revealed a dark black market for infant corpses.
The babies were being transported to Taiwan for use in black magic rituals. It is believed that Chow had purchased them from a Taiwanese vendor in Thailand. Once smuggled into Taiwan, he could sell the grim golden collection for six times what he paid for it.
The Thai authorities were tipped off after intercepting a message from a website that catered to the black magic needs of affluent clients. Chow was one of many involved in this horrifying trade.
7. Macabre Bear
In 2014, a customs officer in Mexico City made a chilling discovery in an unexpected place: a teddy bear. X-ray scans revealed that a shipment of stuffed bears concealed two human skulls. The recently exhumed remains had been bought in Mexico City and were on their way to the United States.
Authorities arrested herbal medicine vendor Fidencio Aparicio Ramirez, who exposed a shadowy black market for human skulls in the US. These skulls are highly sought after by practitioners of Santeria, a religion that blends West African beliefs with Catholicism.
The skulls were likely destined for Southern California and Florida, where Santeria is most prevalent in the US. Owning human skulls is not illegal in the US as long as they are obtained through legal channels. These particular skulls, however, were not sourced legally.
6. Thriving Bone Trade
In 2007, authorities in Jaigaon, India, uncovered a shipment of human skeletons destined for monasteries in Bhutan. The monks intended to transform the bones into wind instruments and the skulls into ceremonial cups. The remains had come from the cremation grounds of Varanasi, a city on the banks of the Ganges River.
Eastern India has long been the center of a human bone trade and was once the world’s leading supplier of skeletons for medical research. The government outlawed this practice in 1985 due to concerns about the ethics of bone harvesting.
Currently, legal bone products are sourced from Eastern Europe and China. However, these alternatives are regarded as subpar compared to the Indian variety, which is prized for its acid-bleached finish and superior craftsmanship.
As a result, the illicit bone trade persists in India. The underground market has failed to improve the methods of harvesting. Grave robbers typically desecrate graves or steal from cremation pyres as soon as family members depart.
5. Mummy Traffickers
In July 2011, US federal prosecutors revealed the bust of a mummy smuggling ring. The operation involved black market antiquities dealers from New York, Michigan, and Dubai. Along with human remains, authorities seized $2.5 million worth of artifacts, including a Greco-Roman style sarcophagus, a set of three nesting sarcophagi, 4,000-year-old funerary boats, and a dozen limestone figurines.
The investigation, named Operation Mummy’s Curse, spanned eight years. The female mummy of Shesepamuntayesher, found inside the nesting sarcophagi, was returned to Egypt.
Mousa Khouli, the New York dealer involved, originally faced a 20-year prison sentence but pleaded guilty. Instead, he was sentenced to six months of house arrest, community service, and a $200 fine—essentially a small cost of doing business.
The history of smuggling mummies out of Egypt is long and infamous. It was once so prevalent that the dried remains were ground into a health tonic known as mummia powder, which remained commercially available until 1908.
4. Fort Lauderdale Airport’s Skull Dilemma
In 2006, airport security in Fort Lauderdale uncovered a human head in the luggage of Haitian-born Myrlene Severe. She claimed that the head—still containing skin, teeth, and hair—was intended to protect her from evil spirits. Authorities believed it was tied to her voodoo practices. In the US, transporting human remains unlawfully can lead to up to a 15-year prison sentence.
Fort Lauderdale airport has seen its share of skull-related discoveries. In 2013, TSA agents found pieces of a skull inside the luggage of two women returning from Cuba. The bone fragments were buried in pots filled with dirt. The women stated that they had bought the pots from a religious souvenir shop to fend off evil spirits. It's unclear whether they knew the pots contained skull fragments.
3. Brooklyn Body Snatchers
In 2005, Brooklyn authorities charged four individuals in a shocking multimillion-dollar body parts trafficking ring. The DA revealed that Daniel George and Son Funeral Home had been illegally extracting bones, tendons, and heart valves from the deceased, all without consent. These grisly products were trafficked right under the noses of grieving families.
After embalming the bodies, the corpses were transported to a secret operating room hidden from most staff members. There, the technicians would harvest the valuable body parts before substituting the missing bones with plastic tubing.
Over the span of four years, the operation illegally obtained parts from 1,077 bodies. By falsifying the ages and causes of death when selling the body parts, the ring jeopardized the health of those who later received them. Unscrutinized tissue poses serious risks, including the potential for infection and the spread of cancer.
Masterpiece Theatre host Alistair Cooke became one of the many victims of this disturbing practice. Though he passed away at 95 from lung cancer, his official records inaccurately listed him as 85 and a victim of heart failure. The market for stolen body parts remains highly profitable and is expected to thrive for years to come.
2. Iraq’s Newest Smugglers
A new and macabre form of smuggling has emerged in Iraq: the trafficking of corpses. These remains are transported to the sacred city of Najaf, home to Wadi-us-Salaam, a vast cemetery where every devout Shiite hopes to be buried.
Since the 16th century, the cemetery has become a destination for corpses from across the Muslim world. The Ottomans even imposed a tax on the transportation of the dead. However, recent conflicts over the past 30 years had slowed this movement, but the business of burial there has now resumed.
While official burials can cost tens of thousands of dollars, corpse smugglers offer their services for a fraction of the price, and the trade is thriving. The job is perilous, with smugglers using the same dangerous routes as drug traffickers and arms dealers. Bribery is common, and the punishments for being caught are severe. Recently, a funeral party was detained under suspicion that they had smuggled a body from Iran.
1. Football Fanatic
In a bizarre incident, fans managed to sneak a coffin containing a corpse into General Santander Stadium in Cucuta, Colombia, during a football match. The body was identified as 17-year-old Cristopher Jacome Sanguino, who had been shot the night before while playing soccer. His final wish was to witness his favorite team play one last time.
Authorities are still puzzled as to how the fans pulled it off, but la barra del indio—a group of dedicated Cucuta supporters—somehow smuggled the body into the stadium. This group had already been banned from entering the venue, yet they managed to evade the police. At the time of the body’s arrival, Cucuta was losing 1-0, but after the unusual entrance, they managed to equalize, ending the game in a draw.
+Further Reading
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