Blood diamond smuggler from Congo arrested

SURAT : Jean Tshimaga, a foreign national from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who was nabbed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on the charges of smuggling illicit diamonds worth Rs 4.24 crore has been sent in the one year custody under the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974, (COFEPOSA) on Friday.
Tshimaga's arrest under COFEPOSA was granted by the Central Advisory Board of COFEPOSA in New Delhi last week.
Official sources said Jean Tshimaga was arrested by DRI sleuths in September-2011 with 10,000 carat of blood diamond consignment valued at Rs 4.24 crore. The accused had brought the illicit diamonds into the country from Kinshasa to deliver the goods to a diamond trader identified as Pravin Ajudia, hailing from Rajkot.
The 10,000 carat rough diamonds brought by the foreign nationals were without Kimberley Process (KP) certificate and thus they were illegally brought into the country.
The Kimberley Process Certificate Scheme (KPCS) is the process designed to certify the origin of rough diamonds from sources which are free of conflict funded by diamond production. Every rough diamond consignment entering into the country bears a KP certificate, which is issued by the KP office in the country from where the diamonds have originated. If the diamond consignment does not have KP certificate then it is treated as blood diamonds.
"The accused was sent to the judicial custody after his arrest last year and that the DRI had started the process under COFEPOSA. The Central Advisory Board has granted one year jail to the foreign national under COFEPOSA" said a DRI officer.