Canadian Border Services Agency officials at the Edmonton airport have seized about 180 carats of rough diamonds, along with hundreds of carats of other gems including rubies, sapphires and garnets, RCMP said Wednesday.

Police said a man carrying the gems in his clothing was apparently trying to smuggle them into the country from central Africa when he was stopped on Feb.11.

“The single parcel of diamonds have a tremendous amount of criminal activity attached to it,” said Const. Kelly Ross, co-ordinator of the RCMP Diamond Program at “K” Division in Edmonton. “[The diamonds] are further smuggled into Canada to be laundered into the legitimate jewelry.”

Both the RCMP and CBSA continue to investigate the seizure under the Export and Import of Rough Diamonds Act and the Customs Act, police said.

They are providing no additional information about the suspect.

Source: CBC News Edminton

www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/02/20/diamonds-seized.html

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 4:29 pm.