A Chinese man was kidnapped and held captive for months as a “blood slave” in Cambodia after being lured by a fake job ad, according to the South China Morning Post.
The man, identified only by his surname Li, managed to escape earlier this month with the help of a member of the gang in the city of Sihanoukville that was holding him captive. He is currently being treated in a hospital and reportedly in stable condition.
Since August 2021, the gang reportedly took 27 ounces of blood each month from the 31-year-old. The blood was believed to be sold to private buyers.
Li’s arms were badly bruised and covered with needle marks when he was admitted to the hospital last week.
Li, who had worked as a security guard in Shenzhen and Beijing, told reporters he refused to participate in the gang’s fraud scheme and after learning he was an orphan and couldn’t be used for a ransom, they opted to use him as a “blood slave.”
He said at least 7 other men were detained in the same room with him. Li said that because he has the universal blood type O negative, the gang took more blood from him than other men.
He said the person who initially tested his blood quipped that his blood type was “quite valuable.”
He also said his captors threatened to sell him to illegal organ harvesters if he didn’t give them his blood.
After being lured by the fake job ad, Li said he was held at gunpoint and taken across the China-Vietnam border where he was sold to the Cambodian gang running the fraud scheme for $18,500.
The Chinese embassy in Cambodia said that it has asked Cambodian police to prioritize the case, according to reports. The embassy also sent staff to visit Li in the hospital.
Henry Sapiecha
