Cops say kids being abducted for body parts

Police investigators said yesterday the suspect in the abduction of a five-year-old boy in Parañaque City last Monday could be a member of a kidnapping syndicate engaged in the selling of organs.

Superintendent Ronald Estilles, Parañaque police chief, said they are conducting a follow-up investigation to determine if the foiled kidnapping the other day was related to the case of a child found dead in Cavite with his internal organs missing.

Police likewise learned that prior to the abduction of Melvin Quintua, a resident of the PNR Rail Site in Barangay San Martin de Porres, another child in the same neighborhood had been missing for more than two weeks.

"We will include in the ongoing investigation the case of the missing child," Estilles said.

He said the syndicate could be targeting children since their organs, especially those of healthy ones, are more "marketable," being free from serious illnesses.

Kidnapping charges have been filed against suspect Ruben Basario, who allegedly abducted Quintua the other day.

Basario, a handicraft maker, claimed he simply asked Quintua and his two cousins to accompany him to the cockpit located 500 meters from the boy’s house.

Residents noticed Quintua walking with a stranger so they reported the incident to the boy’s father, who in turn reported the incident to the police.

An operation conducted by the police resulted in the apprehension of Basario an hour after the incident was reported.