WDC: Smugglers' Arrests Testimony of KP Progress

“The arrests that took place in Arizona provide great evidence that we are making progress and the Kimberley Process is having an impact on stopping the illegal smuggling of diamonds,” said World Diamond Council Chairman Eli Izhakoff after two men were arrested for smuggling industrial diamonds into the U.S.

Last week, two African men were arrested at a Tucson motel room when they reportedly sold a seven carat diamond to undercover U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for $15,300. During a search, 11,000 carats of industrial diamonds were found.

The two, Maliki Mohamad Diane, 60, a naturalized U.S. citizen from Sierra Leone, and Kouate Saoud, 49, of Guinea, were charged with violating the Clean Diamond Trade Act.

According to an enforcement official, the diamonds range in size “from a pea to a cherry tomato.” The official estimated their value at between $250,000 and $2 million.

The World Diamond Council voiced support for every effort to enforce and strengthen “systems and laws to stop all illegal diamond trade activity.”