Number of jobs created by black market, globally: 1.8 billion
Total US illicit trade value: $625.63 billion
Some of the biggest markets:
Body Parts
The World Health Organization estimates that 10,000 illegal surgeries involving organs take place every year
106,879 organs were transplanted in 2010 (legally and illegally)
This is just 10% of global need
Average cost per part:
Pair of Eyeballs: $1,525
Scalp: $607
Skull with Teeth: $1,200
Shoulder: $500
Coronary Artery: $1,525
Heart: $119,000
Liver: $157,000
Hand and Forearm: $385
Pint of Blood: $337
Spleen: $508
Stomach: $508
Small Intestine: $2,519
Kidney: $262,000
Kidneys make up 75% of global illicit organ trade because of rising rates of diabetes, high blood pressure and other heart problems
Gallbladder: $1,219
Skin: $10 per square inch
The illegal organ trade has large markets in China, India and Pakistan
Exotic Pets and Animals
Many endangered animals are trafficked every year to be exotic pets, to be eaten or to be used for medicinal purposes
List of animal prices (USD):
Live chimpanzee – $50
Elephant – $28,000
Geckos in the Phillippines (used to treat asthma) – $2,300
Gorillas – $400,000
Ivory – $1,300/lb
Komodo dragon – $30,000
Polar bear skin – $7,760 – $9,930
Rhino horns – $97,000/kg
Shark fins (used in shark fin soup) – $100/kg
Snake venom – $215,175/liter
Live Tiger – $50,000
Dead Tiger – $5,000
Tortoises – $10,000 in China
Turtle eggs – $1 in Costa Rica
Drugs
More than 5 million people in the US abuse narcotic painkillers
Oxycodone and other prescription medications are among the most abused drugs 4,048 deaths in 2010
Strict DEA regulations force many people to get their drugs from the black market
Globally, cocaine generates $35 billion on the black market
Average US street value: $174.2/gram
Ecstasy – Average US street value: $35/tablet
Heroin – Average US street value: $200/gram
Marijuana – Average US street value: $20 – $1,800/oz
Meth – Average US street value: $3 – $500/gram
The contract killing of a civilian can cost up to $25,000 on the black market
Sperm
Canada’s 2004 Assisted Human Reproduction Act prohibits payment for sperm or eggs – Sperm banks across the country quickly ran dry
The black market gives no guarantee that sperm is safe or STD-free
Today, over 90% of Canada’s semen used for artificial insemination is from back-alley deals or from US for-profit sperm banks
Crude oil
US market value: $10 million
Strict government regulation has pushed some people to smuggle crude oil
Black market thieves sabotage pipelines and then sell by the barrel
In 2010, Mexican government oil monopoly Pemex detected 712 pipelines thefts
This was up from 2005’s 136 thefts
This caused crude oil prices to rise almost $100/barrel
In times of record high oil prices, crude oil can be sold on the black market for less than half of that on the legal market
