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Report: Possible 'blood diamonds' seized at JFK

April 15, 2009

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New York--Customs officials at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport seized $800,000 in diamonds on Saturday because the stones did not have the proper certificates required under the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, according to a report from NBC New York.

According to NBC New York, two U.S. jewelers arriving from the West African nation of Sierra Leone via London declared the diamonds--a total of 28 rough stones weighing almost 1,200 carats--along with 57 pounds of gold dust when coming through customs.

Customs officials became suspicious and seized the diamonds after the two jewelers, whose names have not been released, could not produce the proper paperwork, the news organization reports.

The Kimberley Process (KP) is the mechanism put in place by the industry, governments and civil society to stem the flow of "conflict" or "blood" diamonds, rough diamonds used by rebel forces in Africa to fund wars against legitimate governments.

KP certificates must accompany diamonds to ensure they are "conflict free," meaning they are legitimately sourced and not being used to fund wars.

Though the country is now at peace, Sierra Leone was once a hotbed for blood diamonds and served as the setting for the 2006 movie Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

According to NBC New York, Customs and Border Protection officials are working to identify the origin of the diamonds and have not yet verified that they are from a conflict area in Africa.

The 28 diamonds seized were headed for Brentwood, N.Y.

For more information on the Kimberley Process, visit KimberleyProcess.com.
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