Diamond Mining, Organized Crime, and Corruption

Abstract

This chapter provides a critical analysis of the first phase of the diamond pipeline and its vulnerability to organized crime and corruption. Illicit mining, namely mining outside of the control and monopoly of the international mining companies, is a result of complex bureaucratic conditions and power relations between local miners and corrupt state officials. The criminalization and bureaucratization of the mining industry create legitimacy for international companies with deep pockets to control and gain power in the countries where minerals are extracted. The role of transnational organized crime and its cooperation with the legitimate actors that facilitate illegal diamond mining is also analyzed.