Peru accuses four of murder, selling human fat

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Peru accuses four of murder, selling human fat
07:26 AEST Fri Nov 20 2009

Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing some 60 people to sell their fat and other human tissue to Italian co-conspirators for cosmetic use in Europe.

The suspects were arrested in central Peru this month and a search is underway for seven others — including two Italian citizens whose names were not revealed — lead prosecutor Jorge Sans Quiroz told AFP.

The fat was purchased "to be commercialized in European (cosmetology) laboratories," he said.

The prosecutor's indictment said the gang allegedly targeted farmers and indigenous people on remote Andean roads, tricking them by offering jobs before killing them.

One reported killing took place in mid-September to remove human tissue for trafficking.

The trafficking network could be linked to 60 individual disappearances in the central Andean region, although the ties could not be confirmed.

Read more: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=973669

[glinda]

1. Behold the future I tell you. Less food, less plants and animals. Less make up.

[truthisfreedom]

2. Why don't they just buy it from legit sources, like liposuction centers?

They must have fat coming out of their ears.

[SF342]

4. With the Obesity Epedimic....

Maybe a person could set up a harvesting center..... similar to blood banks.

[JonQ]

6. I wonder how much human fat (legally obtained)

would go for?

[meow2u3]

32. I'll be willing to sell some (or most) of my fat

Not only will I have a few extra bucks in my pocket for Christmas--and for buying smaller clothes--but also I'll have an easy way of decreasing the obesity epidemic, not to mention contributing to the cosmetic industry :evilgrin:

[glitch]

18. No shit, they probably pay for its disposal.

God how evil these people are and I am so sick of the indigenous being murdered for filthy lucre.

Fucking Evolve or go Extinct, assholes.

[proteus_lives]

3. Reminds me of Fight Club.

"Now we make soap."

[AwakeAtLast]

5. That's exactly what I thought of

Blech! :puke:

[XemaSab]

17. "We were selling these women their own fat asses back to them."

n/t

[medeak]

7. yikes! just bought face cream in Italy

shudder

[McCamy Taylor]

8. Is this for real? It sounds made up. Kidneys I could believe. But fat?

[KT2000]

12. Whatever gets top dollar

Please see if you can find the book "Ethics in Organ Transplantation: Perspectives and Challenges' edited by Nimala Rao Khadpekar

It is a collection of essays that examine the transplant trade and donation enterprise.
Emphasis is placed on Third World as they are the majority donors.
US Libertarians are floating the idea of cash for organs.

[medeak]

13. $60,000 a gallon suspect said

He said the suspects, two of whom were arrested carrying bottles of liquid fat, told police it was worth $60,000 a gallon (NZ$21,000 a litre).

Mejia said the suspects told police the fat was sold to intermediaries in Lima, the Peruvian capital. While police suspect the fat was sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, he could not confirm any sales.

Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat, though it does have cosmetic applications.

[KT2000]

15. I think I am going to

throw-up.

[quakerboy]

19. Damn

My family is a walking gold mine, and I never knew...

[Kali]

20. no shit

I'd gladly sell them a load or two, but I don't want to die...

[struggle4progress]

43. A medical expert at Peru's Medical College said on Friday that he found it highly unlikely that

a gang of murderers could have been exporting their victims' body fat for thousands of dollars, as was alleged by police. Julio Castro, Dean of Peru's Medical College in the capital Lima, said it was currently easy to obtain human fat through plastic surgery procedures such as liposuction, so he could not understand why anyone would be prepared to pay exorbitant prices. "It doesn't make sense that the (body) fat would be sold at prices of US$15,000 dollars a liter," said Castro. "Hundreds of liters of human fat are obtained every day at cosmetic clinics, and disposed of," he added ...

LIMA, Peru, Nov. 21, 2009
A Peruvian Black Market in Human Fat?
Medical Experts Dispute Lima Police Claims That Gang Murdered Victims, Drained Fat From Bodies to Sell to Cosmetic Makers
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/21/world/main5727429.shtml

[NashVegas]

44. Ah, "The Gift of Life"

This is what we opened the door to, as a result of our fear of death and dying.

[pitohui]

31. it's made up, FOR SURE (it's an old peruvian legend)

see post # 30

the story is not true

[patrice]

9. Looks like Cormac McCarthy is right; we are definitely on The Road and it ain't yellow-brick.

[KT2000]

10. Outlaw the use of human tissue

and organs. At least that would reduce the number of killings and involuntary donations of organs from living humans.
This is in no way an isolated incident. The mentally ill have been used to donate kidneys and corneas in some countries. Street kids have been killed for their organs. The indebted poor are expected to sell their kidneys to repay debts in some countries. The very wealthy in this country seem to get to the head of the line.

To everything there is a season and if prolonging one's season means risking the integrity and lives of others - that is not OK.

[twitomy]

11. You can make biodiesel out of human fats....

so does that mean the exhaust of car burning it would smell like french fries? (little humor for those familiar with running a car on used fryer oil)

[Richard D]

14. $5000 per litre!

Damn, imagine what Dallas is worth.

[nashville_brook]

16. couldn't they just make a deal with the liposuction clinics - i'd take $$ for mine

this could save the whole American economy!!

[pitohui]

30. oh nashville the story is almost certainly horseshit -- it's an old peruvian myth

at the end of the piece --

The alleged plot revived the Andean legend of the "Pishtacos," white foreigners who were said to suck the fat out of people traveling on lonely roads at night, making fine soaps, lubricants, healing salves and beauty creams out of the tissue.

as others point out, human fat is of no value, if it had any value, then there are plenty of liposuction clinics in brazil and north america that would be minting the money, no one would bother with harassing some poor peasants in peru -- the story is coming out of peru because it's an old-time legend from peru that foreigners milk peasants for their fat to make beauty cream

i don't know what these people did, obviously someone in authority doesn't like them, but common sense tells me that this myth-based charge is a load of horse hockey

it's a witch hunt, no different from the hysteria we saw in the child care satanist cases of the 1980s

in ten or 20 years after it's too late to save the victims of the hysteria it will be admitted, oh well, too bad so sad we made an oopsie!!!

[Kali]

37. I've not been to South America, but I did have the thought

that in MOST places (US excepted) the poor, peasant class doesn't tend to be very fat.

On the other hand I can sure see the vain westerner using "beauty" products with human ingredients. bleh

[nashville_brook]

41. yeah, that's a headscatchin' twofer!

[nashville_brook]

40. damn! and i was planning my retirement on my extra ASSets... :)

[crim son]

46. What a weird thought to turn into a myth.

Hmmm.

[Dover]

36. Perhaps there is already a big 'reuse' industry in liposuction

that we simply haven't heard about. Who's to say that liposuction clinics don't already make
money on both ends of the deal - removing and then selling the fat? That might be worth investigating.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

21. Peruvian police: Gang killed people for their fat

Source: Associated Press

LIMA, Peru - Police say a gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the corpses to sell on the black market for use in cosmetics, although medical experts say they doubt a major market for fat exists.

Three suspects confessed to killing five people, but the gang may have been involved in dozens more, said Col. Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police. He said one suspect claimed the gang wasn't the only one doing such killings.

Mejia said two of the suspects were arrested carrying bottles of liquid human fat and told police it was worth $60,000 a gallon. The fat was sold to intermediaries in Peru's capital, Lima, and police suspect it was then sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, Mejia said Thursday, but he could not confirm any sales.



Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34057001/ns/world_news-americas/

---

Just when you think that you've heard everything, something like this comes along.

On edit: I didn't see that this was an update from a story already posted yesterday. I need to wake up before getting on here.

[bobburgster]

22. Wow, and I thought I heard everything!

[Blandocyte]

23. Now I've heard everything!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. Remind me to avoid Peru....

[SkyDaddy7]

25. I have no idea why I am leaving a comment...

Because I honestly have no idea what to say...

[Vinca]

26. Note to self: no Peruvian vacations.

[pitohui]

34. thousands of white people visit peru every year, almost none of them are arrested for being vampires

i admit the story gave me pause, the police (!) have basically revived an old vampire story about white foreigners killing and selling locals for their fat, but we didn't stop living in the usa when there was a similar bullshit hysteria (all that satanist child care center crap)

you can't avoid every country where some crazy hysteric might accuse you of doing something impossible, you just have to play the odds in life and hope for the best

i will not put off my travel plans to peru based on this story, really, we tourists were prob. more at threat when the usa was helping shoot down small air craft and accusing humble tourists of being druglords -- even some missionaries were killed then

if you are destined to be falsely accused of a crime it's FAR more likely to happen at home than in peru

[Vinca]

39. That remark was supposed to be humorous. Oh well.

[iamjoy]

27. It Makes Me Think Of Fight Club

In the movie, Tyler gets this idea to go through the waste product of liposuction clinics and use it to make soap, which was then sold.

"We were selling rich women their own fat asses back to them"

[Nihil]

28. Just in ...

Rush Limbaugh declares this the biggest terrorist threat to Americans
since the Atkins diet was revealed ...
:hide:

[Blue_Tires]

29. that's just fucking SICK

[DU GrovelBot]

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[struggle4progress]

35. .. Three suspects confessed to killing five people .. Colonel Mejia could not confirm any sales ..

Medical experts expressed doubt about an international black market for human fat, though it does have cosmetic applications. A dermatology professor at Yale University, Dr Lisa Donofrio, speculated that a small market may exist for "human fat extracts" to keep skin supple, but she said that scientifically such treatments are "pure baloney" .. Medical authorities said human fat is used in anti-wrinkle treatments - but is always extracted from the patient who is being treated, usually from the stomach or buttocks. "There would be a risk of immunological reaction that could lead to life-threatening consequences" if fat from someone else were used, said Dr Neil Sadick, a professor of dermatology at Cornell Weill Medical College in New York ..

Gang 'killed people for their fat'
(UKPA) – 7 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hY1jA39J0LytkMklutxSiQ4_AWTQ

[BreweryYardRat]

38. What the FUCK?!

Plenty of people would happily sell their excess fat for less than the Italians paid the black marketeers.

Whatever that "other human tissue" was, it had to have been the reason for killing those poor people. Something vital that people can't do without.

[Flaneur]

42. Lik'ichiri--its an Andean bogeyman.

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=39796

Central and South America have other explanations for missing body parts, such as the supernatural creatures that swipe body fat. The lik’ichiri are said to haunt the altiplano (highlands) of the Andes mountains; the word means ‘fat stealer’ in the language of the Aymara, one of the indigenous groups of the Andes and it is well known among the Quechua, Aymara, and other native Andean cultures.

While in Bolivia, in 1996, I interviewed Eulogio Chavez, an ethnolinguist at the Ethnology and Folklore museum in La Paz about this tradition. According to Chavez, the lik’ichiri attacks people as they sleep on the altiplano; it cuts long, thin slits in the sides of its victim and removes the fat painlessly. The wound promptly heals and, usually, the victim is none the wiser (Radford 1996). According to legend, unless treatment is given promptly, the victim soon dies.

Although Chavez believed the lik’ichiri to be a very ancient belief – possibly originating before the Spanish Conquest in the 1530s – its urban variant has clearly been modernised. While most reported attacks occur in the mountains, some stories come from the cities as well.

In La Paz, Bolivia’s capital and largest city, hapless bus riders are said to be attacked late at night. To protect himself, the traveller should travel during daylight wherever possible, or in the company of others at night. Eating garlic is supposed to dilute the fat, making it less appealing or unusable to the lik’ichiri. Treatments include a potion called achacachi.

[Judi Lynn]

45. Peru's Murderous Fat-Stealing Gang: Crime or Cover-Up?

Peru's Murderous Fat-Stealing Gang: Crime or Cover-Up?
By Lucien Chauvin / Lima Tuesday, Dec. 01, 2009

http://img.timeinc.net.nyud.net:8090/time/daily/2009/0911/peru_fat_1130.jpg

A police officer displays two bottles containing
human fat while another arranges seized sticks
of dynamite at a press conference in Lima,
Nov.19 Karel Navarro / AP

Much of the world was shocked and titillated by news of alleged fat-stealing murderers in the Peruvian jungle. But the story may have a much more sinister underbelly. Could the allegation of homicidal liposuction possibly be a smokescreen to distract attention from other crimes, including, some local journalists say, the existence of a death squad that may be operating within the country's national police?

The existence of marauding fat stealers was made public mid-November by General Felix Murga, head of the national police's criminal-investigation division, and Colonel Jorge Mejia, who leads the antikidnapping unit. The Murga-Mejia team said the gang may have killed dozens of people over the past three decades and showed off two dirty bottles containing a yellowish goop they said was human fat that had been harvested for sale to European buyers in the cosmetics business. Three people have been arrested and the search continues for at least six other fat removers.

~snip~
The possibility of some kind of cover-up became part of the public debate because of the fate of an article by the investigative journalist Ricardo Uceda, published in the monthly magazine Poder. Uceda's story detailed the supposed operation of a death squad within the police unit in the northern city of Trujillo. He documented 46 criminals shot to death by police officers in 2007 and 2008 in the city, which has a population hovering around 800,000. But the allegations of the pishtaco gang surfaced at about the time Uceda's article was going to press. For several days, the murderous fat stealers hogged the headlines.

On Nov. 29, Peru's media had caught up to Uceda's explosive allegations and news magazines were filled with speculation of a cover-up, focusing primarily on Interior Minister Octavio Salazar, whose office oversees the police. Salazar is a retired police general who used to head the force's Trujillo detachment. TV news shows, dailies and blogs were abuzz not with news of fat-stealing but of a "grease-screen," which is how Patricia del Rio of the daily Peru 21 described what many now say is a bizarre cover-up. Both liberal and conservative media have followed del Rio's lead, debating out loud why the national police would time the allegations of fat-stealing just as Uceda's report was coming out.

More:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1943539,00.html?xid=rss-world&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+time%2Fworld+%28TIME%3A+Top+World+Stories%29#ixzz0YQup8aCr