The Deadly Global War for Sand
Global demand for sand is so high that illegal mines are everywhere (2015)
Sand is the most consumed resource after water, and the world is running out of it. Illegal mining gangs, from India to Morocco, are killing to control the supply, devastating rivers and beaches. This WIRED investigation reveals the hidden cost of concrete: a brutal black market that threatens ecosystems and lives.
The global demand for plain old sand is so high that illegal mines are everywhere, and mafias around the world are killing for the stuff.
- EffrafaxOfWug
I can highly recommend watching this Video by practical engineering:
Is the World Really Running Out of Sand?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB0qDQFTyE8
(Spoiler: It's not)
- noworld
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.
- arjie
Growing up in India, this was a huge issue back then. Sand miners were sort of like your alcohol runners. Big mob operations with connections into a bent police force at a high level.
One of those things which needs a strong state to protect the commons. Weak state power is easily outmatched by individual agents of the state conspiring with the mob.