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Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:50 amBreaking News:
Gang kills people, sells fat for cosmetics
AP 21 November 2009, 01:07am ISTText Size:|Topics:cosmetics
Peruvian jungle
fat from bodies
LIMA: A gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people for their fat, the police said, accusing the gang’s members of draining fat from bodies
and selling it on the black market for use in cosmetics.
Medical experts expressed skepticism, however, that a major market for fat might exist. Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, said Colonel Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru’s anti-kidnapping police. He said the suspects, two of whom were arrested carrying bottles of liquid fat, told the police it was worth $60,000 a gallon.
Col Mejia said the suspects had told the police that the fat had been sold to intermediaries in Lima. While police suspect that the fat was sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, he said he could not confirm any sales.
Several medical experts acknowledged that fat had cosmetic uses, but they also said they doubted that there was an international black market for human fat. Lisa Donofrio, a Yale University dermatology professor, speculated that a small market might exist for “human fat extracts” to keep skin supple, though she added that scientists considered such treatments “pure baloney”.
The police showed two bottles of fat recovered from the suspects and a photo of the rotting head of a 27-year-old man. One of the suspects told officers that the gang would cut off its victims’ heads, arms and legs, remove the organs, and then suspend the torsos from hooks above candles that warmed the flesh as the fat dripped into tubs below.
At least 60 people are listed as missing this year in Huanuco Province, where the gang is believed to have operated.
Gang kills people, sells fat for cosmetics
AP 21 November 2009, 01:07am ISTText Size:|Topics:cosmetics
Peruvian jungle
fat from bodies
LIMA: A gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people for their fat, the police said, accusing the gang’s members of draining fat from bodies
and selling it on the black market for use in cosmetics.
Medical experts expressed skepticism, however, that a major market for fat might exist. Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, said Colonel Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru’s anti-kidnapping police. He said the suspects, two of whom were arrested carrying bottles of liquid fat, told the police it was worth $60,000 a gallon.
Col Mejia said the suspects had told the police that the fat had been sold to intermediaries in Lima. While police suspect that the fat was sold to cosmetic companies in Europe, he said he could not confirm any sales.
Several medical experts acknowledged that fat had cosmetic uses, but they also said they doubted that there was an international black market for human fat. Lisa Donofrio, a Yale University dermatology professor, speculated that a small market might exist for “human fat extracts” to keep skin supple, though she added that scientists considered such treatments “pure baloney”.
The police showed two bottles of fat recovered from the suspects and a photo of the rotting head of a 27-year-old man. One of the suspects told officers that the gang would cut off its victims’ heads, arms and legs, remove the organs, and then suspend the torsos from hooks above candles that warmed the flesh as the fat dripped into tubs below.
At least 60 people are listed as missing this year in Huanuco Province, where the gang is believed to have operated.