22 Bags of Diamond-Like Stones Discovered in Luggage of Citizen Arriving from Sharjah

The State Revenue Committee (SRC) has uncovered a new case of customs violations in the Department of Electronic Trade and Transportation by Air. According to an SRC statement, recently at the customs control zone of the passenger arrival hall at "Zvartnots" International Airport, customs officers from the SRC's electronic trade and air transport department conducted customs control on a citizen of Armenia arriving on a flight from Sharjah along with their luggage.

"As a result of customs inspection, 22 polyethylene bags containing transparent stones of various sizes and 2 certificates marked 'GIA' were discovered in the traveler’s luggage. The total weight of the diamond-like stones was found to be 244 grams. According to information available in the SRC's database, if these transparent stones are processed natural diamonds, their value could exceed 8,000,000 Armenian Drams (around eight million). In accordance with the Armenian government’s relevant decision on approving the list of strategically important raw materials and cultural values, processed natural diamonds are included in this list. According to data from the customs authority's database, only 29 of the discovered diamond-like transparent stones exceed the customs value set by Article 292 of the Armenian Criminal Code pertaining to strategically important raw materials, which is 8 million Armenian Drams," the statement reads.

A report on the case of smuggling has been prepared and transferred to the Investigative Committee.