Unknown culprits penetrated a high security area at Jwaneng Mine and made away with two plastic bags containing unprocessed soil material that could have a mixture of rough diamonds.
It is believed to be an inside job.
Undercover security agents have been spread around Jwaneng to try and find the stolen soil material.
It is reported that the culprits, believed to be highly skilled, managed to dodge the Closed Circuit TV cameras during the breakÔÇôin.
The Public and Corporate Affairs Manager of Jwaneng Mine, Naledi Dikgomo-Goulden, said in a press statement that “there has been an incident where two plastic bags containing soil material were accessed without authority”.
She said the stolen soil material was waiting to be processed to ascertain whether there were diamonds in it or not.
She indicated that in order to curb such incidents the mine has strengthened the controls around access to the area where the incident took place by increasing camera coverage and electronic access monitoring.
Meanwhile, four days after the theft of soil material, about seven laptops were also stolen from the administration office block at the mine.
Jwaneng Police Station Commander Superintendent Theriso Thatayotlhe told The Telegraph on Monday evening that “my station is investigating two cases of theft at the mine”.
He said in the first incident unknown culprits managed to enter a restricted area.
“We are working around the clock to establish who might have entered the area because it is possible that the soil might have contained diamonds therefore undercover agents are in the ground to trace the whereabouts of the soil material,” he said.
Thatayotlhe added that as the police, they strongly believe that the perpetrators might be those who work in or have worked in the mine before.
He said what is surprising is the fact that the said area has high tech monitoring equipment but the cameras did not show any footage though they are working.
He added that the culprits were smart and clearly knew how to dodge the monitoring devices.
Finger prints have been taken and sent to the laboratory for analysis and they are expecting the results soon.
Thatayotlhe said the two cases are very similar and the culprits might be the same people.
He appealed to the members of the public to come forward with information that could lead to the arrest of the culprits.
