Six Arrested in Crackdown on Illegal Diamond Mining
March 17, 25
(IDEX Online) - Six people have been arrested in South Africa on suspicion of illegal diamond mining as part of an ongoing crackdown by police, military and private security personnel.
They were apprehended for illicit mining and trespassing at Koingnaas, a former De Beers mine in Kleinzee in the Namakwa District, which was last fully operational in 2008.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) said officers seized 11 bags of suspected diamond-bearing gravel and tools believed to be used for illicit mining.
The six suspects - five men and one woman aged 23 to 34 - are all foreign nationals from Lesotho, the landlocked enclave within South Africa.
Illegal diamond mining has long been an issue in the Namakwa District of the Northern Cape, South Africa.
SAPS has been running Operation Vala Umgodi - "Close the Hole" In isiZulu - since December 2023 to combat illegal mining and related criminal activities across the country.
Pic shows the five male suspects, courtesy SAPS.