DAR ES SALAAM, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian law enforcers have seized 36 kilograms of gemstones, including Tanzanite, at a border entry town with Kenya, an official said on Thursday.
Frank Mwaisumbe, Longido District Commissioner in Arusha region, said the gemstones were being smuggled out of the country through neighboring Kenya.
Mwaisumbe said the value of the gemstones were yet to be established by officers.
He said the gemstones were seized by a special team of law enforcers who received a tip off on an attempt to smuggle the gemstones using a bus plying between Tanzania's safari capital Arusha and Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Mwaisumbe said another type of the seized gemstones was ruby, adding that the gems were found mixed with a consignment of rice.
"After receiving information on the attempt to smuggle the gemstones out of the country, we dispatched policemen and security officers who used sniffer dogs to locate where the gemstones were hidden in the bus," said the district official.
He said both the bus driver and conductor were being held by police for questioning after claiming that they have had no idea of the owner of the consignment.
Arusha regional minerals officers said they expected to establish the actual commercial value of the seized consignment later in the day.
