Jamaican police left stranded after thieves steal a beach
This article is more than 17 years old
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent
Mon 20 Oct 2008 19.01 EDT
Thieves in Jamaica have embarrassed police and triggered a political row by stealing a beach - and making a clean getaway.
Hundreds of tonnes of white sand vanished from a planned resort on the island's north coast in July but three months later there is no sign of suspects nor sand.
An estimated 500 truck-loads of sand were removed from the Coral Spring beach in Trelawny and were believed to have been sold to rival resorts, a hefty logistical feat which has stumped police.
"It's a very complex investigation because it involves so many aspects," Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner for crime at the Jamaica Constabulary Force, told the BBC.
Pretty sure this is a joke but you never quite know, given that HN is infamous for these "javascript programmer applies his smarts to something that's not javascript" moments.
Rory Carroll, Latin America correspondent Mon 20 Oct 2008 19.01 EDT
Thieves in Jamaica have embarrassed police and triggered a political row by stealing a beach - and making a clean getaway.
Hundreds of tonnes of white sand vanished from a planned resort on the island's north coast in July but three months later there is no sign of suspects nor sand.
An estimated 500 truck-loads of sand were removed from the Coral Spring beach in Trelawny and were believed to have been sold to rival resorts, a hefty logistical feat which has stumped police.
"It's a very complex investigation because it involves so many aspects," Mark Shields, the deputy commissioner for crime at the Jamaica Constabulary Force, told the BBC.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/oct/21/jamaica
In all seriousness, rock crushing is energy intensive relative to just taking sand from the source.
Let nature and physics do the rest.
"Crushed rock sand – An economical and ecological alternative to natural sand to optimize concrete mix"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221302091...
The main problem is that even though crushing rocks is affordable, illegal sand mining is even cheaper in regions where law enforcement is weak.