Jamaican police nowhere nearer to solving 'stolen beach' case

London, October 20 : Jamaican police's probe into a suspected 'theft' of hundreds of tons of sand from Coral Spring beach in July appears nowhere nearer to solving the case.

More than three months have passed since the investigation started, but the police still seem to be baffled by the removal of 500 lorry-loads of sand from the beach.

No arrests have been made as yet.

However, officials in charge of the investigation suggest that the thieves might be connected with the tourism sector, as a good beach nearby is profitable to any hotel on the island.

While illegal trade of sand is said to be prevalent in Jamaica, the size of this theft is specifically proving quite problematic for the police.

"It's a very complex investigation because it involves so many aspects," the Telegraph quote Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner for crime, as telling the BBC.

"You've got the receivers of the stolen sand, or what we believe to be the sand. The trucks themselves, the organisers and, of course, there is some suspicion that some police were in collusion with the movers of the sand," he added.

The police have revealed that they are conducting tests on beaches up and down the coast to determine whether any of them matches the stolen sand.

ANI