ABSTRACT
Since the mid-1990s, terrorist groups have used diamonds and tanzanite for both financing terrorist activities and helping terrorists move their money outside the formal financial sector.2 Gemstones are ideal for several reasons: they hold their value over time, they are easy to transport, they do not set off metal detectors in airports, and they can be easily converted back to cash when necessary. This is especially true of “blood diamonds,” or diamonds mined by non-state armed groups, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, in order to finance their wars. Diamonds are mined in areas outside government control, where illicit trade has flourished for years and where it is easy for clandestine structures to operate while drawing little attention from the law enforcement or intelligence communities.
