And I have trouble swallowing just a couple of vitamins at one time!... ---------------------------- In the Middle-Ages, diamond mine owners circulated rumors that diamonds were poisonous in an attempt to protect their assets from being swallowed by miners. However, nowadays, this myth does not seem to worry people. Ian Fleming, the author famous for the James Bond series, published a non-fiction spy novel called, The Diamond Smugglers in 1957 about African diamond smuggling, which was estimated to be worth around $16.5 million per year. This might explain the amount of diamond smuggling that still goes on. There are numerous stories of modern day diamond smugglers. In 2010, a Sri Lankan diamond smuggler was arrested at Chennai Airport, India. He had swallowed 2,060 diamonds inside 42 condoms. The diamonds were valued at around $670,000 and the man would have received commission if he had been successful. This turned out to be the fourth time that the smuggler had pulled such a stunt. Police reported that the smuggler looked uncomfortable and sat awkwardly whilst being questioned, but when asked what the matter was, the smuggler said that he had troublesome hemorrhoids. More recently, in February 2014, a 66 year old woman traveling from Trinidad and Tobago was arrested in Pearson International Airport in Toronto with a staggering 10,202 rough diamonds (1,500 carat weight). It is not clear as to whether Helena Freida Bodner had smuggled the gemstones by ingesting them or concealed the stones by placing them in another orifice. The mind boggles at the thought. An English jeweler told the story of a would-be customer who turned to thieving when he could not afford a platinum and diamond engagement ring that he had his heart set on. Simon Hooper from Dorset, England, swallowed the whole ring whilst the jewelers back was turned in 2007. An X-ray revealed the ring, but Mr Hooper claimed that it was a piece of silver foil. In police custody, Hooper tenaciously held onto the ring for three days before finally passing it. The jeweler reported that people would not want to buy the ring now because of where it had been, so he would be forced to sell it at a loss of around 1000 pounds.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 19:20:26 +0000
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