airport
Mungo Soggot
ISRAELI national Zif Falk narrowly failed=20 this week to set a new record for “body- smuggling” diamonds out of South Africa.=20
Apprehended by police on Saturday night in=20 the departures lounge at Johannesburg=20 International Airport, Falk was found to=20 have uncut gems worth R2,4-million packed=20 carefully in a condom in his rectum.
The feat failed, however, to impress=20 diamond giant De Beers. Representative Tom=20 Tweedy said the record set last October by=20 a Belgian and Israeli duo was intact. One=20 of them was carrying 13 000 carats, worth=20 R3-million.=20
The South African Police Service’s diamond=20 squad said Falk was the third courier=20 caught at the airport since last June.=20
Falk did, however, beat the Belgian/Israeli=20 partnership on sentence. They escaped with=20 a R50 000 fine each. Falk had to fork out=20 R250 000 after pleading guilty in the=20 Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Monday.=20 He flew home the same day.
A member of the diamond squad involved in=20 the case said Falk’s fine was paid by a=20 contact in the smuggling ring, the identity=20 of whom was privileged information held by=20 Falk’s lawyers.=20
He said the difficult part for the unit was=20 tracking down the rest of the ring and the=20 source of the diamonds – either stolen from=20 a mine or from a South African cutter.=20 Stolen diamonds cannot be registered with=20 the diamond bourse and so are couriered out=20 of the country for cutting.
Typically, couriers landed in South Africa,=20 checked into their hotel and went to a=20 specified meeting place. They then returned=20 to their hotel, wrapped the gems in a=20 condom, crammed the package into their anus=20 and caught the first flight home.
The squad said it intercepted all the=20 airport couriers after tip-offs. The only=20 way to find the diamonds, which were always=20 ferried in concealed condoms, was to X-ray=20 suspects. =20
The trick was to X-ray well before their=20 flight was due to take off to avoid legal=20 action in case the suspect, after being=20 found innocent, missed his flight. Most=20 couriers preferred to arrive at the airport=20 just before the final flight call.