Organized criminal syndicates, notable for their adaptability to opportunities offered by changing social and market conditions, have become involved in the transnational trade in human organs. The complexity of such operations, however, has to date restricted organized crime groups to a limited segment of the worldwide trafficking in human body parts. This article offers evidence indicating that the fear of the theft of body parts plays a prominent part in communities where poverty and victimization are widespread. The horror of involuntary bodily mutilation feeds into scripts that tend to exaggerate organized crime's role in such activities.
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