Brokers in China who specialize in creating fake documents that allow organ transplants to take place has increased the rate of living transplants in the country. In 2010, 40 percent of all organ transplants took place between living donors, compared to 15 percent in 2006. The remaining transplants take place primarily with organs culled from executed prisoners.

Source:  “Organ trafficking trial exposes grisly trade,” Reuters, May 19, 2010.

At the start of 2010, there were 11 million stolen or lost passports listed in the global database of Interpol.

Source:  Associated Press, “AP Interview: Interpol chief says weak passport verification world’s biggest travel threat,” Los Angeles Times, January 29, 2010.

According to officials in Ireland, about 40 percent of all stolen passports are probably being sold illegally. The stolen passports are stripped of the victims identification and then sold on the black market for around $3,500 (between 2,00 and 3,000 Euros).

The news article also mentions that Canadian passports have the highest demand on the black market, with Ireland coming in second.

Source:  Jennifer Bray, “‘Alarming’ rise in stolen passports on black market ,” Sunday Tribune, July 5, 2009.

A new report by the investigative arm of the US Congress has found that it is very easy to obtain a real passport from the State Department by using counterfeit materials.  The GAO was able to obtain passports through a series of undercover tests, such as using false documents to a dead person’s social security number.  In each of the 4 undercover tests, the investigator was able to receive an official passport. 

Read the GAO report, “Undercover Test Reveal Significant Vulnerabilities in State’s Passport Issuance Process,” here. 

Read the news article from CNN here.

Source: Moises Naim, Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are hijacking the global economy, (New York: Doubleday, 2005), pg. 101.

In a database maintained by Interpol, 14 million lost or stolen identity documents are listed.

Source: Caroline Brothers, “Iraqis turn to gangs to flee for safety,” International Herald Tribune, July 26, 2007,(accessed: July 31, 2007).

Fake IDs are often including in the smuggling fees for undocumented immigrants who are smuggled from Mexico.While in the United States, undocumented immigrants are able to purchase identifications from flea markets and other vendors for $75 to $300. Papers available for purchase include Social Security cards, Driver Licenses, and Green Cards.

Source: David Montgomery, “ID forgery industry is booming,” Miami Herald, May 7, 2006.

The human smuggling industry in China charges people between $10,000 to $25,000 to purchase a fraudulent passport, and between $3,000 to $5,000 to alter the photo of a passport.

Source: National Institute of Justice, “Characteristics of Chinese Human Smugglers,” Research in Brief, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, August 2004, pg.7, (accessed: September 3, 2006).

In Thailand, a basic counterfeit passport is able to be created in 2 hours for $245. For a higher quality counterfeit passport, the price rises to $1,000 to $1,250.

Source: AP, “Thailand still king for counterfeiting,” Taipei Times, October 5, 2005, (last accessed: May 1, 2006).