Man is kidnapped and used as a ‘blood slave’ after being lured by fake job advert

A Chinese man identified as Li had been kidnapped and used as a blood slave for months. His captors were a gang in Cambodia who trapped him via an online job ad using a fake company. While captured, 31-year-old Li had 800ml of blood removed every month. His blood was likely sold online. This experience left Li’s arms covered with bruises and wounds from needles. He lost so much blood that during his final drawing, the captors took it from his head since his arms couldn’t supply enough.

Man is Forced to Become a Blood Slave for a Gang

Bear in mind, guidelines for safe blood donations recommend taking less than 500ml at a time. Plus it takes within 48 houses to replenish the fluid but it can take much longer for red blood cells to fully replenish. Therefore, the American Red Cross recommends people to wait about 56 days between blood donation sessions. Additionally, if red blood cells are taken, donations should only take place about three times a year. However, it’s unclear what kind of method the gang used to take blood from Li. 

When Li finally arrived at a hospital on February 12, he was almost dead and multiple of his organs were on the verge of failing. He had managed to escape through the help of one of the gang members. Fortunately, Li is under proper medical care and his condition is now stabilized. 

Li previously worked at a security guard before he went to the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region for a job as a nightclub bouncer last August. But he soon learned the ad was fake; at that location, he was kidnapped and forced to cross from China into Vietnam by gunpoint. First, he was taken to Ho Chi Minh City then he was shipped to Sihanoukville, Cambodia. There he was sold to another gang who ran an online fraud company for $18,500. Li said the members of this “company” were all Chinese as they treated him and the other victims “coldly,” regarding them as “tools for making money.” [1]

Investigating and Finding Other Victims

Li stated that the gang had turned him into a blood slave after he refused to participate in their telemarketing fraud scheme. Plus, they learned he was an orphan who wouldn’t get a ransom. One of the members threatened him, saying if they can’t take his blood, they’d sell him to organ harvesters. From then on, he was a blood slave. [2] The gang used electric prods to tortue him and the other captives, who included seven other men. Li’s blood was taken the most since he is type O, a universal blood donor type. Quite valuable, according to the gang.

Unfortunately, the kidnapped and use of blood slaves is not an uncommon thing in Cambodia. This includes the premise of online fraud companies with members that beat their people with electric prods who do not obey. The Chinese embassy in Cambodia released a statement calling upin Cambodian authorities to prioritize this situation. A representative of the embassy also visited Li in the hospital. [3]