Lebanese man swallows 220 diamonds in smuggling bid
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
JOHANNESBURG: South African police on Wednesday said they had caught a Lebanese man who swallowed 220 polished diamonds in an audacious bid to smuggle them from Johannesburg to Dubai.
Officers arrested the 25-year-old at Johannesburg's international airport carrying the gems, worth an estimated $2.3 million.
"We nabbed him just before he went through the security checkpoint," said Paul Ramaloko, spokesman of the South Africa elite police unit, the Hawks.
"We had to take him through the X-ray and take them out from his body," he told AFP.
South Africa is among the world's top producers of diamonds. (AFP)
Officers arrested the 25-year-old at Johannesburg's international airport carrying the gems, worth an estimated $2.3 million.
"We nabbed him just before he went through the security checkpoint," said Paul Ramaloko, spokesman of the South Africa elite police unit, the Hawks.
"We had to take him through the X-ray and take them out from his body," he told AFP.
South Africa is among the world's top producers of diamonds. (AFP)
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