Airport officials found 220 diamonds worth Rs 12 cr in the digestive tract, after he swallowed them
South African police have arrested a 25-year-old man who they say swallowed 220 diamonds worth £1.4 million (Rs 12 crore) in an attempt to smuggle them out of the country.
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The man was arrested as waited in line at a security check-point at Johannesburg airport.
A scan of his body showed the diamonds, which he had ingested, inside his body. The gems were later recovered.
The man had been on his way to Dubai.
Captain Paul Ramaloko of the South African Police Service said, “We nabbed him just before he went through the security checkpoint.”
Authorities believe the man belongs to a smuggling ring, as another man was arrested in March attempting the same thing.
In March, police arrested another Lebanese national who was attempting to smuggle $1.69 million worth of diamonds out of South Africa.
South Africa is one of the world’s top diamond producers.
Swallowing diamonds in a bid to allegedly get them out of a country is one of the simpler ways of smuggling.
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