(Rapaport…August 29, 2001) Sierra Leone police have launched an operation to seize illegal conflict diamonds and concentrate on ending the rampant gem smuggling. The police said the operation has already led to the apprehension of 179 illicit stones from a house in Freetown.
A UN-backed mining ban and disarmament program has failed to stop the flow of conflict diamonds from the Kono district.
“There is no police presence in the district, and we have information that foreigners and nationals have been traveling there to deal with illicit miners,” a senior Freetown police source said.