R2 million 'suspected' diamond and gold haul at Beitbridge

04 September 2015 - 12:42 By RDM News Wire

The South African Revenue announced on Friday that “vigilant customs officials discovered rough diamonds and gold hidden in a traveller’s belongings” at the Beitbridge border post this week. The find‚ said be worth more than R2.2-million‚ came during an inspection on Wednesday of goods in a truck from the Democratic Republic of the Congo when “officials noticed unusual objects in certain of the boxes being transported”.The seized “suspected” metals and gems included: 143.35g of gold‚ 63.54g of black diamonds‚ 67.58g of diamonds‚ 173.10g of uncut industrial diamonds‚ 10.36g of clear uncut diamonds and 566.87g of industrial diamonds.These were then handed over to the South African Police Service.This bust came on the back of some notable seizures over the past fortnight‚ including:- At Beitbridge‚ R5-million worth of ephedrine (crystal methamphetamine) was found hidden in a truck driver’s bags; - At the Ficksburg border post‚ more than a ton of dagga‚ worth more than R1-million was found in a truck entering SA from Lesotho;- A customs inspector at the OR Tambo International Airport Mail Centre discovered three boxes containing 60,000 male sexual enhancement pills‚ valued at R6-million; - A passenger from Sao Paulo had swallowed 38 cocaine “bullets” valued at R138,996; and- A Thai woman without the required documentation was found concealed on the floor by the back seat of a Corsa van...

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