Spain/Sierra Leone: Spanish Police Arrest "Blood Diamond Boss"

Jul 10, 2024 | John Jeffay, IDEX Online
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Armed police in Spain have arrested a man allegedly responsible for trafficking blood diamonds from Sierra Leone to fund a rebel group behind the country's bloody 11-year civil war.He was detained last Tuesday (2 July) by Spain's national police after landing at Malaga airport on a flight from Brazil and is now being held in prison awaiting court proceedings. The man, who has not been named, is alleged to be the head an operation set up to launder cash from diamonds mined under slavery conditions to finance the Revolutionary United Front (RUF)."He was responsible for a business plot that would have facilitated the circulation and laundering of diamonds obtained by paramilitary militias that enslaved civilians in Sierra Leone," said Policia Nacional.