Sand Smugglers
Okay, think about a moment when you wanted to steal something. Got it? Was that item a TV or a video game? Or maybe it was sand? Would you want to steal sand out of all the things you could steal? It is simply just outrageous, somebody stealing huge amounts of sand. These so called “Sand Smugglers” were a real thing. A French couple decided that they were going to smuggle sand from a beach in Sardinia, Italy, which contains some of the world’s most beautiful sand. After arriving, the French couple noticed a bunch of signs and warnings indicating not to take property from the beach, including shells and sand, but they acted as if the signs never existed. The couple then proceeded to pack 14 plastic bottles full of the sand at the beach. Believing they had just committed the crime of the century, and would be getting away freely with the 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of sand they smuggled. The couple hit a roadblock while trying to board onto a ferry back to their homeland, France. They were stopped by a group of surrounding police officers during a routine search. The French Sand Smugglers were caught in the act of fleeing with smuggled sand.
Shortly after, being caught stealing 88 pounds of sand, the couple was taken to the nearby town of Sassari, Italy, where they were ushered into court. The Italian judge ruled the French couple guilty of aggravated theft and presumably a fine up to €3,000 ($3,300), but the frightening part is the couple could be sentenced between one to six years in prison. Paying a fine is easy to get by, but getting imprisoned overseas is another occurrence and is the worst thing that can happen to a foreigner. The people of Italy are taking this event very seriously and are attempting to bring awareness to events like this in their home country. According to an officer that spoke to CNN, he said that, “The people of Sardinia are very angry with tourists that steal shells and sand, because it’s a theft (from) future generations that also puts at risk a delicate environment.”
These “Sand Smugglers” were going to sell the 14 bottles full of sand on Ebay or various other sites for a high markup price. Most people would pay extra for anything from Italy, think of wine, poultry, etc. U.S citizens pay way over the normal price for anything marked with “Imported from Italy” and it’s outrageous.
