A gang that is said to have illegally traded corpses has been busted in Spain. The national police said they forged papers and documents mainly in the city of Valencia in order to obtain the bodies of the deceased in hospitals and nursing homes. The bodies were then sold to universities for study purposes for 1,200 euros each. Four people were arrested.
“The accused chose deceased people who had no relatives, preferably foreigners, or who lived in precarious conditions,” said the Policía Nacional statement. A funeral home involved in the case also collected a total of over 5,000 euros from universities for at least eleven cremations that were never carried out.
The medical faculties of the universities rely on corpses because exercises on them are considered indispensable in the training and further education of medical professionals. Despite body donation agreements, there are often not enough bodies available.
