2 arrested after illegal blood trade discovered
Two men have been arrested for illegally organizing blood sales.
Prosecutors said one of the suspects, identified as Zhou Sa, posted about blood sales on WeChat Moments last month. The other, identified as Wu Pingping, saw the post and joined Zhou's operation, being promised 750 yuan (US$112) for every recruit.
Wu recruited four men in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, and took them by train to Shanghai on July 6. They met Zhou at Tonghe Xincun Station on the Metro's Line 1 in Baoshan District.
The four pretended to be local residents offering to donate blood at a community health center. Wu had promised to give each man 600 yuan but only gave 500 yuan, which cause a quarrel to break out in the street. That alerted patrolling police and the underground blood business came to light, prosecutors said.
Initial investigation showed Zhou took advantage of the policy that every blood donor is given 800 yuan as a nutrition subsidy, and profited from it.
He Haibo, a third man said to be involved in running the operation and described as Zhou's boss, is still at large.