Ukrainian woman "planned to murder four-year-old son, sell organs"

Ukrainian police arrested a woman for attempting to have her four-year-old son murdered to sell his organs on the black market, Korrespondent magazine reported Tuesday. The woman, 36, agreed to turn the child over to Kiev mobsters, after which the boy was to be killed and his organs sold, law enforcers said. Police broke up the deal by arresting the woman as she received a 45,000-dollar payment from a gang member. The woman reportedly had offered her child to the same organ smugglers in the past, but the gangsters rejected her first offer of her son's body at the price of 50,000 dollars. It was Ukraine's first detention of a suspect under the terms of recently-enacted laws aimed at reducing the country's illicit but extensive organ donor market, according to the report. Though boasting one of Europe's most vigorous economies, Ukraine contains provinces where unemployment is widespread, and donating an organ on the black market can be a source of substantial income. The most valued organs reportedly are kidneys, worth up to 10,000 dollars, according to the Ukrainska Kriminalna website. Even more valuable are hearts plus kidneys, as their removal is not possible without the donor's death. dpa sbk sc