Diamonds, gold worth R2m bust at Beitbridge

Johannesburg - Rough diamonds and gold worth more than R2m were confiscated at Beitbridge border post, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) said.

"Vigilant customs officials discovered rough diamonds and gold hidden in a traveller’s belongings at the Beitbridge border post on Wednesday, 2 September.

"During an inspection of goods in a truck from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), officials noticed unusual objects in certain of the boxes being transported."

Different types of rough stones were found in a sealed container, including:

• 143.35g of suspected gold,

• 63.54g of suspected black diamonds,

• 67.58g of suspected diamonds,

• 173.10g of suspected uncut industrial diamonds,

• 10.36g of suspected clear uncut diamonds and

• 566.87g of suspected industrial diamonds.

"The estimated value of all suspected diamonds is R2 263 501 and the estimated value of the suspected gold is R17 497," Sars said in a statement.