CAIRO — The Egyptian Interior Ministry shocked the public Aug. 22 by announcing it had arrested 12 people who had formed an organ trafficking network in Giza governorate, south of Cairo. The revelation sparked the public's fear of a rise in such trafficking in the country, as did media reports this week that piles of human remains were found along a desert road near Mir in Asyut province.

Residents of the Mir area discovered the remains — mostly bones and skulls — of adults and children. Soon after authorities confirmed that they had examined, documented and buried the remains of 14 people, another site was located almost 190 miles away. Al-Ahram reported that residents had told officials about adults and children disappearing. After the remains were discovered, the people expressed fear that organ trafficking might be involved.

As for the ministry's announcement of arrests in Giza, authorities said they actually caught 12 people — including doctors and nurses — in the act of an illegal transplant at a private hospital. The bust came after Germany's ProSieben channel published on Aug. 7 a short investigative documentary that it said revealed the existence of an organ trafficking mafia in Egyptian hospitals, a network of physicians working with traffickers. It also said helpless African refugees were being procured from human traffickers for their organs.

But the Egyptian Ministry of Health rejected the documentary, saying it was filled with “lies and deceit.”