28 People Arrested in Diamond-Smuggling Ring Bust

Chinese police said they have shut down a Hong Kong-based diamond-smuggling ring, in three months of arrests and confiscations. Twenty eight people were arrested between January and March and diamonds worth $31 million were confiscated, making it one of the largest busts in diamond history.

Among the arrested suspects are 22 Indian nationals and three Hong Kongers, according to an AFP report. According to unconfirmed reports in the local press, all of the suspects have pleaded guilty to smuggling the diamonds and were subsequently jailed.

A spokeswoman for the customs department in China's southern city of Shenzhen, which adjoins Hong Kong, confirmed the arrests to AFP Thursday, but did not give further details. According to the AFP report,

The investigation started after a Hong Kong resident reported that he had been robbed of diamonds worth three million Yuan ($~0.5 million) in Shenzhen in 2009, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday.

The diamonds are believed to be smuggled into Hong Kong from India, sold to jewelry factories before they were distributed to retailers.