It could be a scene from Fight Club- a man using human fat to produce high-end soap products- but it's actually the latest odd bit of crime news coming out of Peru this week. Officials arrested four members of the fat ring in Peru and suspect the group to be responsible for the death of over 60 people in the country. The brutal deaths of these people were not a result of a turf war or a drug deal gone wrong- but rather for the purpose of selling their fat to European labs.Experts say that human fat provides little benefit to cosmetics- both to products and for plastic surgery- that other existing (and legal) products can't provide. But that didn't stop the European labs for paying a reportedly $15,000 per liter of human fat.
A little tough to swallow? Perhaps. But the four captured suspects have confessed to their crimes and one stated that this has been going on for five years at least. Authorities are still searching for the Peruvian ring leader. All of the men face a series of charges, including murder and drug charges.
Would you be content using human fat in your products?
Online source: Cnn.com
Image source: BBC News
Here is another view of what happened- this article seems to suggest it is a recurring "urban legend" or myth....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livinginperu.com/news-10697-peru-pishtaco-legend-strikes-back-peru
I am having trouble believing that European cosmetics companies would pay thousands of dollars a liter for human fat.
ReplyDeleteSurely the liposuction industry produces thousands of gallons of the stuff every day. It seems ludicrous that a European cosmetics company would pay top dollar for human fat shipped in lemonade bottles all the way from Peru.