17 cops up for diamond dealings
2007-09-18 07:23
Special Report
A classical music presenter for the BBC has been arrested and is in custody in Zimbabwe.
Harare - Seventeen police officers have been arrested in eastern Zimbabwe for dealing in diamonds at a site they were supposed to have protected, say reports.
Ten of the arrested officers, who were apprehended while guarding the diamond field, had already been convicted under the Police Act, said reports.
It was reported that the arrests took place on September 15 at the Chiadzwa diamond field in the eastern Marange district.
Three of the officers were found in possession of 30 pieces of diamonds on arrest, said the report quoting police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka.
The others were found in possession of money believed to have been received as bribes from illegal diamond miners.
Chiadzwa had been the site of a diamond rush since late last year after President Robert Mugabe's government revoked a claim to the area by an international mining firm.
Officers 'not sentenced yet'
Thousands of Zimbabweans, including impoverished peasant farmers joined the frenzied search for the gems causing massive environmental damage and fuelling rampant smuggling and dealing in diamonds with buyers from as far away as Asia.
The government then stepped in, fencing off a large area of the diamond field that was put under police protection. But locals complained police were involved in illegal deals.
The officers had not yet been sentenced. Earlier this year the government tightened regulations that place a mandatory five-year jail term on anyone found dealing in diamonds.
This month, Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi revealed that Zimbabwe, which was strapped for hard currency was losing up to $50m worth of precious minerals like diamonds every month to rampant smuggling.
Reports this weekend said the state-run Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation had finally begun full-scale commercial mining in Marange's diamond fields.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA