"In order to feed my family, I am putting my organs up for sale - starting with my kidneys"

An Italian businessman who denounced a Mafia extortion racket has put his organs up for sale after his pleas for help were ignored by the state, Italian media report.

Eight people were arrested after Ignazio Cutro told authorities  about the organised crime gang from Agrigento in southern Italy that was driving him to bankruptcy, the reports said. But the 44-year old, who co-founded the anti-Mafia association Libere Terre (Free Lands), says he has been ruined by the Mafia and  the authorities have abandoned him to his fate, refusing all requests for help.

"My family and I believe what we did was right... but where is the help from the institutions?," Cutro wrote on his blog.

"They are taking away even my dignity, I have only one thing left to do in order to feed my family, I am putting my organs up for sale.

"I'll start with my kidneys... anyone interested should send me an email," he said.