South African police say they’ve arrested a 25-year-old man who swallowed
220 polished diamonds in an attempt to smuggle them out of the country. The man, a Lebanese, was attempting
to smuggle them from Johannesburg to Dubai.
Capt. Paul Ramaloko
of the South African Police Service said investigators arrested the man on
Tuesday night as he waited in line at security at O.R. Tambo International Airport just outside of Johannesburg.
Ramaloko said a
scan of the man’s body showed the diamonds, which later were recovered. He said
the man had been on his way to Dubai.
According to the
police captain, “We nabbed him just before he went through the security
checkpoint… We had to take him through the X-ray and take them out from his
body.”
The diamonds were reported to be worth
about $2.3 million. Authorities believe the man belongs to a smuggling ring, as
another man was arrested in March attempting the same thing. South Africa is
one of the world’s top diamond producers.
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