NANCHANG, July 26 -- Twelve suspects were sentenced to prison terms of up to nine and a half years for illegally trading human organs on Friday in east China's Jiangxi Province.

Chen Feng, head of the criminal gang, started the organ trade operation in May 2011 with Jiang Zhenglin. Chen and others were responsible for looking for suppliers and buyers while Jiang, a doctor by profession, was in charge of performing medical operations.

They claimed online to pay more than 100,000 yuan (16,000 U.S. dollars) per kidney. Among nearly 40 potential "suppliers" they had recruited, 23 had one of their kidneys removed for illegal transplants.

However, the victims did not get paid the amount promised. The gang led by Chen made illegal profits of more than 1.5 million yuan (over 247,800 U.S. dollars) from October 2011 to February 2012.

Chen alone made 435,000 yuan (over 69,600 U.S. dollars) through the unlawful trade. He was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. Jiang, who is suspected of involvement in other crimes, will have his verdict announced later.