Blood Diamond Trader May Have Been Released From Custody

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(Rapaport…July 1, 2002) Rumors abound that on June 28 notorious arms dealer Sanjivan Ruprah was released from custody in Belgium.

After months of a surveillance operation by the Belgian secret service, Ruprah was arrested for money laundering, conspiracy and possession of false documents. The owner of a Kenyan diamond mine, Ruprah allegedly supplied weapons to rebel forces in Sierra Leone, fuelling the decade-long civil war that claimed thousands of lives there.

Ruprah, who operated from Liberia, worked closely with wanted Russian arms dealer Victor Bout. Bout supplied weapons to rebels in Africa, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe in exchange for diamonds and is reportedly linked to the Taliban and al-Qaida terrorist groups.