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A Texas man is accused of offering to buy a 9-month-old baby and harvest its organs in a text group chat he wasn’t supposed to be a part of in the first place. We’ve all heard of wrong numbers, but this bizarre story takes the cake.
According to jail records, Jose Israel Teran Jr., 21, from San Antonio, TX, was charged with attempting to buy and sell human organs on Jan. 6. Teran was also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon over a separate road rage incident that same week.
According to the child’s family, the infant’s mother included her brother, the baby’s uncle, in the group chat, unaware her brother’s phone number had changed.
Reportedly, Teran has the brother’s old number, and when he got the text concerning the baby’s baptism, Teran responded, “That’s a nice Caucasian baby how much you want?” San Antonio news outlet KSAT reported.
Teran said he thought the group text was spam
Teran later told Texas police he thought the text thread was spam, but after the child’s mother told him “Wrong number” he kept texting, asking, “Are you not interested in selling? I’m willing to start the bid at 500k.”
Finally, the 9-month-old’s father called Teran to confront him, and according to Teran’s arrest affidavit, viewed by several Texas news outlets, Teran told him he’d purchase the child and could pay with cash or Bitcoin, and said he purchased babies to harvest their organs, and could meet and buy the child that same night.
Teran knew the church address where the baptism was planned and the family’s home address because both were mentioned in the group text.
Investigators tracked the number to Teran, only to discover he was already in custody for shooting a 36-year-old semi-truck driver in the leg in a San Antonio area road rage incident. It’s unclear what caused the attack.
Organ harvesting is a billion dollar industry
According to The Exodus Road, a Colorado nonprofit that investigates human trafficking and supports trafficking survivors, illegal organ harvesting is an estimated $1.7 billion black market worldwide, involving both adults and children. Unlike adults, who sometimes agree to donate a kidney for money, children cannot agree to have their organs harvested.
Reports say Teran is held at the Bexar County Jail, and it’s unclear when he’s expected to make his first court appearance. He has not yet entered a plea. Federally, selling organs for money was banned in 1988, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.
In 2023, the Texas legislature made organ harvesting a state felony punishable by jail time. “This is a highly profitable industry that presents a dangerous incentive to traffickers. Individuals have reported being misled, coerced, or otherwise forced into selling their organs,” the legislature said. “Strong criminal penalties have shown to effectively deter crime. We have a duty to protect our communities from dangerous human organ traffickers,” it added.