Fifty individuals, believed to be part of a diamond smuggling ring, have been arrested.

According to a police investigator, three Hong Kong residents are suspected of being middlemen for the smuggling operation. The smugglers reportedly hid the stones in their shirt pocket and attached them to their belts. Among the individuals arrested are buyers and distributors.

Mr. Yung, one of the men arrested, was stopped by the Law Wo customs authority on January 8 after acting in a suspicious manner. During a body search it was discovered that Mr. Yung was concealing three small packets of diamonds.

Thanks to information retrieved from Mr. Yung during his interrogation, the authorities were able to make numerous arrests and retrieve large quantities of diamonds and cash.

Due to various taxes such as import tax, VAT and consumer tax, the price of rough diamonds are extremely high in China. According to reports, nearly 80% of the diamonds in China are smuggled into the country.

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