Over 35,000 Diamonds Seized From Russian Tourist (returning from UAE)

[Tab]

Customs officers at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport have seized 35,500 diamonds from a Russian woman.

A third of the seized diamonds would cost over one million U.S. dollars, the Russian Information Agency Novosti reported, citing a statement from the Russian Customs Service press center.

The woman, a resident of the Russian internal republic of Buryatia, was returning from the United Arab Emirates. She was wearing a belt stuffed with the precious stones and over a hundred packages with small diamonds that customs officials were unable to count. She also tried to bring into the country several pieces of jewelry — a necklace, three pairs of earrings, a watch and a ring.

The press center was quoted by the agency as saying the customs officials had been counting the diamonds for over 12 hours, but could only count a fraction of the total amount.
http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/12/07/diamond.shtml

Is this how they're getting some of the $$$ out of Iraq/Saudi Arabia/UAE?

[Sideways]

1. Looks Like The Case

FYI as an aside I lived in Oman from 4-2002 to 3-2004 UAE is Oman's northern neighbor. I traveled to Dubai frequently as it is simply a fucking great city and toward the end of my sojourn in the ME I noticed Russians EVERYWHERE.

They were in Oman as well but it blew my mind the sheer numbers of them in Dubai. A lot of Russian women REALLY good looking women as well. They fuel the prostitution trade in the ME. The ME isn't what most people think it is. That said I LOVED LIVING THERE!

[thecrow]

2. I'm sure they were for her personal use

"...She was wearing a belt stuffed with the precious stones and over a hundred packages with small diamonds that customs officials were unable to count....The press center was quoted by the agency as saying the customs officials had been counting the diamonds for over 12 hours, but could only count a fraction of the total amount."

So how do they *know* it was 35,000 stones?
I am amazed by this statement.