Antwerp police conducted six raids on Wednesday and made four arrests as part of an investigation into diamond imports suspected of being of Russian origin, according to a statement from Antwerp’s public prosecutor office on Friday.
The investigation is the first of its kind related to the EU and Group of Seven (G7) import ban on diamonds from Russia, which started on Jan. 1 in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. A broader ban on Russian-origin stones imported through third countries came into effect on March 1. Alrosa, a state-owned company in Russia, is one of the biggest diamond miners in the world.
The investigation was triggered after customs officials seized diamonds in late February, the statement explained. A spokesperson for the prosecutor mentioned that three shipments were confiscated.
Antwerp, a city in Belgium, has long been known as a major diamond trading hub, especially for rough diamonds, even though most polishing now takes place in India.
Sources familiar with the situation stated that the value of the three seized shipments was in the millions of euros, with one source specifying an overall value of around 8 million euros ($8.64 million).
The spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office declined to disclose the combined value of the shipments. The statement also noted that documents and digital media were seized during the raids.
($1 = 0.9257 euros)
Reporting by Julia Payne; Editing by David Gregorio
