Here's a hotter tip than the one you got from your stockbroker this morning. Don't go to Peru. The Peruvian police say they have busted four members of a gang they are calling Los Pishtacos. The gang members allegedly killed dozens of people, extracted their fat in makeshift labs, and sold the fat on the Black Market to buyers for cosmetic manufacturing.
Four people were arrested and charged with kidnapping, murder, and trafficking in human fat. The police are still searching for additional suspected members of the gang, as well as the people who bought the fat.
The police are investigating 60 disappearances in the area which have possible connection to the investigation. The investigation began after they received a tip about a shipment of fat which arrived in Lima via bus from the Andes."We have people detained who have declared and stated how they murdered people with the aim being to extract their fat in rudimentary labs and sell it," said Police Commander Angel Toldeo.
In addition to those taken into custody, police said they were searching for others who bought fat from the gang or might have worked with it.
Remains from some of the victims were found at a rural house in the region of Huanuco where the group worked, according police video.
According to a report by the Associated Press, the Peruvian police said one of the suspects had described to them how they would cut of the heads, arms and legs of their victims, take out their organs and hang the torsos from hooks above candles to warm the flesh so the fat could drip out into tubs positioned underneath.
Colonel Jorge Mejia, chief of Peru's anti-kidnapping police, told the press that two of the suspects were carrying bottles of liquid fat when they were arrested, and had told the police it was worth 15 thousand (US) dollars a litre.
El PishtacoA Pishtaco is a fantasy figure, a boogeyman, in the Andes region of South America, in particular in Peru. According to folklore, it is an evil vampire-like man, often a stranger and often a white man, who seeks out unsuspecting Indians, to kill them and abuse their bodies in disgusting ways, for instance by cutting them up and selling their flesh as fried chicharrones.Medical experts in the U.S. are rejecting the theory of a black market for human fat, citing the global obesity epidemic. However, there is one dermatology professor at Yale University, Dr Lisa Donofrio, who conceded there might be a small market for human fat. Human fat has been used to make products to keep skin supple, but Dr. Donofrio said the science behind this is "pure baloney".
Spanish missionaries were feared as Pishtacos by the Andean aboriginals, who believed they were killing people for fat with which to oil their churchbells. Pishtaco is derived from the local language quechua word: "pishtay" which mean to "behead, cut the throat or cut into slices" --From Wikipedia
Other experts conveyed skepticism, explaining that it is too easy to procure human fat legally to take the risks involved in getting it illegally. They also explained that many instances in which they use it, like anti-wrinkle treatments, the fat is taken from the patient's own body to reduce the risk of life-threatening immune system reactions.
I say, who cares? These people have killed at least 60 people for their fat, and they sold it. That tells me all skepticism aside, there's a market. It doesn't really matter what it's being used for in the end, it's being used. All the "expert's" skepticism is telling me, is that they either have never thought of it, or they don't want to admit that they've thought of it. Add to that the fact that it's being harvested and sold, and this tells me some of them have probably done more than think about it.
Why would you even go to anyone in the U.S. to inquire about this anyway? Who says this was sold to anyone in America? According to the doctors here, we have plenty. That doesn't mean that's the case in other countries. It also doesn't mean we're the only country who would have a demand for such a product. It's rather short-sighted on their part to come to such conclusions in their hurried panic to stave off the bad publicity aftermath of a possible media frenzy.
There's also the case of Dr. Alan Bittner, a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills, who claimed he used fat removed from his patients during liposuction surgeries to power his 4x4 truck. Bittner said his patients were on-board, and actually requested that he used their fat for fuel. Bittner posted on his website lipodiesel.com, that he used the "lipodiesel" to power his Ford Explorer and his girlfriend's Lincoln Navigator.
An investigation into the matter began after law enforcement were made aware during another investigation they were conducting due to a lawsuit filed against the doctor from several patients. The patients claim Bittner allowed his assistant and his girlfriend to perform operations on them while neither of them held a medical license.
Oddly enough, Bittner's current whereabouts are believed to be in South America. Trust me, cancel that vacation to Peru.
