Diamonds aren’t always a girl’s best friend

A CHINESE woman believed to have stolen a six-carat diamond worth $300,000 (€265,000) has been arrested in Thailand and had the stone surgically removed on September 12.

She was seen on a security camera at a jewellery fair in Bangkok two days earlier, exchanging the diamond for a fake and was then thought to have swallowed it so that she could smuggle the gemstone out of the country.

When she and a male companion were stopped at Suvarnabhumi airport where they were due to catch a flight, she denied any knowledge of the theft, although when she was x-rayed, the diamond was clearly visible.

Despite the fact that the woman was detained and given laxatives, the diamond remained within her and a decision was made to operate to remove it. A police spokesman told the Bangkok Post that the operation which took 12 minutes was a success and the woman was recuperating in hospital.