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Authors: Greg Campbell
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reported the theft because they were smuggled in the first place. What makes this case notable is the fact that the man had served for 11 years on the customs agencyâs diamond evaluation committee.
In fact, smuggling within respected channels of the diamond industry is, like all else related to it, a well-organized and long-standing system. The largest cutting and polishing centers in the world, in Bombay and Surat, India, were founded on smuggled goods that made their way from DTC customers in Belgium via German courier, with the finished stones then being smuggled back. Courier âcompaniesâ made a handsome living employing
schoolteachers, laborers, airline pilots, and others who were willing to take a free, all-expense-paid vacation to the Orient in return for carrying home a slightly lumpy tube of toothpaste. All of this was done to avoid the local and value-added taxes for the round-trip journey. 3
Because of their stable prices and the ease with which they can be moved around the world undetected, diamonds have been the currency of choice for a lot more than weapons that go to African insurgencies. Theyâve been used to buy drugs in South America and theyâve been used by the Soviet KGB to pay spies. Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen was reportedly paid $1.4 million in cash and diamonds to provide the Russians with intelligence information and classified documents.
The amount of diamonds that are smuggled by individuals, though, is relatively small compared to the wealth of diamonds that can be stolen from the mines themselves by workers. Security at diamond mines the world over makes antiterrorism security efforts at airports look like theyâre conducted by the Boy Scouts. In Namibia, for instance, at the De Beersâowned Oranjemund claim, the only cars in the town in the 1970s were company cars that could never leave its borders. Private vehicles were banned when an enterprising engineer removed several bolts from the chassis of his car, bored out the middle for holding diamonds, and then screwed them back in tight. The fact that he was actually caught is testament in itself to how high the security was; from then on, De Beers outlawed new cars. All vehicles in the town had to stay there until they rusted away. One worker at the same site stole diamonds by tying a small bag to a homing pigeon, which would fly the diamonds back to his house. 4 One day, he got too ambitious and overloaded his winged courier; the pigeon was so laden with stolen diamonds,
it couldnât fly over the fence and was discovered by security guards a short time later. They reclaimed the diamonds and let the bird go, following it to the manâs home, where he was arrested after work.
Smuggling one or two small stones out of Freetown is one thingâsmuggling a half a million dollars worth is something else entirely. If caught with an attaché case filled with rough at the airport, at best youâll lose your loot; at worst youâll be arrested and prosecuted. Smuggling large parcels out of Freetown requires a bit more cloak-and-dagger than hiding the goods in body cavities.
âThe way it will work,â Singer explained one night at the Solar over Star beers in the bar, âis that weâll look at the goods here, agree on a price, and then meet in Conakry to complete the deal.â Like most nights, the place was almost deserted except for the staff and a few guests whoâd gathered under the tin-and-thatch roof to watch CNN. A string of pale yellow lightbulbs gave the scene a jaundiced look and bamboo curtains were partially rolled down around the circumference in anticipation of the nightly rains. Valdy lounged in another booth nearby, smoking and watching TV.
Conakry, the capital of neighboring Guinea, has long been the location of informal conflict-diamond trades. Usually Sierra Leonean combatants will trade small pieces of rough in Guinea for rice or fuel, but there have been
In fact, smuggling within respected channels of the diamond industry is, like all else related to it, a well-organized and long-standing system. The largest cutting and polishing centers in the world, in Bombay and Surat, India, were founded on smuggled goods that made their way from DTC customers in Belgium via German courier, with the finished stones then being smuggled back. Courier âcompaniesâ made a handsome living employing
schoolteachers, laborers, airline pilots, and others who were willing to take a free, all-expense-paid vacation to the Orient in return for carrying home a slightly lumpy tube of toothpaste. All of this was done to avoid the local and value-added taxes for the round-trip journey. 3
Because of their stable prices and the ease with which they can be moved around the world undetected, diamonds have been the currency of choice for a lot more than weapons that go to African insurgencies. Theyâve been used to buy drugs in South America and theyâve been used by the Soviet KGB to pay spies. Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen was reportedly paid $1.4 million in cash and diamonds to provide the Russians with intelligence information and classified documents.
The amount of diamonds that are smuggled by individuals, though, is relatively small compared to the wealth of diamonds that can be stolen from the mines themselves by workers. Security at diamond mines the world over makes antiterrorism security efforts at airports look like theyâre conducted by the Boy Scouts. In Namibia, for instance, at the De Beersâowned Oranjemund claim, the only cars in the town in the 1970s were company cars that could never leave its borders. Private vehicles were banned when an enterprising engineer removed several bolts from the chassis of his car, bored out the middle for holding diamonds, and then screwed them back in tight. The fact that he was actually caught is testament in itself to how high the security was; from then on, De Beers outlawed new cars. All vehicles in the town had to stay there until they rusted away. One worker at the same site stole diamonds by tying a small bag to a homing pigeon, which would fly the diamonds back to his house. 4 One day, he got too ambitious and overloaded his winged courier; the pigeon was so laden with stolen diamonds,
it couldnât fly over the fence and was discovered by security guards a short time later. They reclaimed the diamonds and let the bird go, following it to the manâs home, where he was arrested after work.
Smuggling one or two small stones out of Freetown is one thingâsmuggling a half a million dollars worth is something else entirely. If caught with an attaché case filled with rough at the airport, at best youâll lose your loot; at worst youâll be arrested and prosecuted. Smuggling large parcels out of Freetown requires a bit more cloak-and-dagger than hiding the goods in body cavities.
âThe way it will work,â Singer explained one night at the Solar over Star beers in the bar, âis that weâll look at the goods here, agree on a price, and then meet in Conakry to complete the deal.â Like most nights, the place was almost deserted except for the staff and a few guests whoâd gathered under the tin-and-thatch roof to watch CNN. A string of pale yellow lightbulbs gave the scene a jaundiced look and bamboo curtains were partially rolled down around the circumference in anticipation of the nightly rains. Valdy lounged in another booth nearby, smoking and watching TV.
Conakry, the capital of neighboring Guinea, has long been the location of informal conflict-diamond trades. Usually Sierra Leonean combatants will trade small pieces of rough in Guinea for rice or fuel, but there have been
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