Nairobi police seize two with male body parts

Two mortuary attendants who had attempted to sell body parts on Monday have been arrested.

Police in Nairobi seized the two in Hurlingham. One is believed to be an attendant at the Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary and the other at a private funeral home in the same area.

They were arrested at about 12.30pm with a green paper bag containing male genitals suspected to have been chopped off a body at the hospital.

Police had been tipped off about the body organ selling syndicate and laid an ambush before arresting the two as they took the genitals to an undisclosed location.

According to the deputy Kilimani OCPD Johana Chebii, police laid an ambush at the KNH parking lot where they saw the mortuary attendant board a vehicle that sped off before it was intercepted.

“Acting on a tip off that there were people trading in human body parts, detectives went to KNH and laid an ambush. One man carrying a green paper bag boarded a vehicle which was intercepted and upon searching we found a full male organ wrapped in papers,” Mr Chebii said.

Police were by Monday evening still searching the morgue to find which body the genitals had been chopped from.

A team of investigators led by the Kilimani DCIO Mwenda Italia were questioning the two suspects over the bizarre trades and how long they had been involved.

Removed organs

Police believe that the theft of body parts had been going on for some time because the suspects had removed the organs and left the hospital with relative ease.

“We don’t know if this business has been going on for long, and how many people are involved.

“We urge relatives of deceased people to always check if the bodies they collect have all parts before taking them away,” Mr Chebii said.

Mr Chebii said that the suspects would be taken to court and charged as soon as the investigations are complete.