S.African police smash gold theft ring, arrest 22
By Darren Schuettler
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 21 (Reuters) - South African police smashed a gold theft ring on Monday and arrested 22 miners and security staff in an industry that loses about 30 tonnes of gold annually to novice thieves and ruthless syndicates.
Dozens of police, backed by armoured cars and a helicopter, swooped on the Grootvlei mine about 50 km (30 miles) east of Johannesburg in the second major gold bust of the year.
The dawn raid, which capped a seven-month undercover investigation, scooped up 8.7 kg of stolen raw gold worth 520,000 rand ($82,280).
"It was a sophisticated syndicate and that's why it took seven months to root it out. They were taken by surprise this morning," police spokesman Andy Pieke told Reuters.
Grootvlei is owned by Petra Mining Ltd and mines the famed Witwatersrand basin -- the world's richest gold deposit when it was discovered over a century ago.
Pieke said the 22 South African nationals nabbed by police worked in various parts of the mine and included members of its security staff. Police first heard of the gang last year from three illegal immigrants arrested for trying to steal gold from the mine.
Pieke said an undercover agent infiltrated the syndicate in September and gathered evidence until last week.
The Grootvlei sting is the second major gold bust of the year after 23 suspects were arrested in January for illegally selling gold and diamonds in North West province.
THEFT HITS MINE PROFITS
Stolen gold has become a critical issue as production from ageing mines continues to slide in the wake of an industry-wide restructuring and volatile gold prices.
South Africa is still the world's biggest gold producer, but output fell to 464 tonnes in 1998, the lowest in four decades.
Gold thieves range from a single miner who hides gold dust in his trouser turn-ups to syndicates armed with forged documents and offshore bank accounts.
Some syndicates have been known to hire contract killers to remove uncooperative mine employees.
Last May, police arrested 100 people and seized 44 kg of rough gold and 50 carats of uncut diamonds after a ten-month sting operation.
South Africa's Chamber of Mines, which represents the country's major gold producers, has estimated that about 30 tonnes of the metal is lost annually through criminal activity.
The Chamber and South African police are working on a gold "fingerprinting" scheme under which stolen gold could be traced back to its mine of origin.
The police Diamond and Gold unit made over 2,000 arrests in connection with precious metal thefts in 1999.
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