DUSHANBE, February 24, 2014, Asia-Plus — Two citizens of Tajikistan has been arrested on suspicion of having been involved in trafficking in gemstones, the Interior Ministry’s website reported on February 24.
Resident of GBAO’s Shugnan district, Shavkat Sayfiddinov, 24m ad resident of Dushanbe, Zuhur Bahromov, 56, were reportedly arrested in Dushanbe on suspicion of having been involved in trafficking in spinel and ruby.
155 pieces of spinel weighing 104.38 grams, 132 pieces of red ruby weighing 71.1 grams, eight pieces of blue ruby weighing 4.38 grams, and seven pieces of emerald weighing 7.72 grams were confiscated from Sayfiddinov and 172 pieces of spinel weighing 72.37 grams and three pieces of red ruby weighing 7.26 grams were confiscated from Zuhur Bahromov, the website said.
Criminal proceedings have been instituted against Shavkat Sayfiddinov and Zuhur Bahromov; an investigation is under way.
Spinel has long been found in the gemstone-bearing gravel of Sri Lanka and in limesotnes of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) in Tajikistan, the Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan and of Mogok in Burma. Recently gem quality spinels were also found in the marbles of Luc Yen (Vietnam), Mahenge and Matombo (Tanzania), Tsavo (Kenya) and in the gravels of Tunduru (Tanzania) and Ilakaka (Madagascar). Spinel is found as a metamorphic mineral, and also as a primary mineral in rare mafic igneous rocks; in these igneous rocks, the magmas are relatively deficient in alkalis relative to aluminum, and aluminum oxide may form as the mineral corundum or may combine with magnesia to form spinel. That is why spinel and ruby are often found together.
Some spinels are among the most famous gemstones: Among them is the Black Prince”s Ruby and the “Timur ruby” in the British Crown Jewels, and the “cote de Bretagne”, formerly from the French Crown jewels.
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminum oxide). The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires. The ruby is considered one of the four precious stones, together with the sapphire, the emerald and the diamond.
