( CNN ) -- A Beijing court has prosecuted more than a dozen people for organizing the illegal sale of 51 human kidneys worth about 10 million yuan ( US $ 1.6 million ) in one of China 's biggest organ trafficking cases . The ring , headed by Zheng Wei , allegedly helped scores of customers find organs by paying mostly young and poor men approximately 25,000 yuan each . Their kidneys were then sold for about 200,000 yuan , according to the state-controlled People 's Daily . The Beijing Haidian District People 's Procuratorate prosecuted Zheng and 15 others involved in the scam , including some doctors from state-run hospitals . According to reports , an operation room from a township hospital in Jiangsu Province was set up between March and June of 2010 , where more than 20 kidneys were removed from living `` sellers '' and sent to Beijing for patients suffering from kidney disease . Zheng then purportedly moved the operational base to Beijing in the second half of the year to ensure easier transportation of the organs and to minimize their spoiling . Police busted up the ring in December . One analyst believes the shortage of donated organs in China is the main motive for the growing practice , but added that the issue of ethics played its part . `` The involvement of medical staff in such illegal acts reflects management loopholes in hospitals . Strengthening professional ethics of doctors is important to wiping out the illegal dealings , '' Zhou Zijun , a professor at Peking University 's School of Public Health , told the People 's Daily .
Sixteen people allegedly helped sell 51 human kidneys worth $ 1.6 million . The ring allegedly helped scores of customers find organs by targeting poor men . Score: 7