by Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 10/98) - When the diamond industry is in full swing, Yellowknife RCMP are anticipating an onset of organized crime.

To prepare, two Yellowknife officers are establishing a diamond unit that will specifically deal with diamond-related crimes.

Officers Ray Halwas and Susan Munn are the driving force behind the idea but their pursuit has been no easy task thanks to federal budget cutbacks.

"What we have been doing for two years is trying to prepare our organization for the delivery of police services for the industry," said Halwas on Wednesday.

In recent months, the pair have been visiting diamond-producing countries, talking with local police to find out how they handle crimes related to the industry.

Today, however, they are at a crossroads, in need of police resources and proper federal legislation to further develop the unit.

"We see a need to start with a minimum of three (officers). If we get two it's not good enough. It's either three or just disregard," said Halwas. The cost of a designated division is estimated at $400,000 annually to cover salaries, living allowances and support services at the detachment. Finding that money is the problem.

Once in operation, the unit which perform a number of duties, including diamond-related black-market and conspiracy investigations, and identifying other security issues.

Diamond fingerprinting is another duty the diamond unit would like to pursue if it gets the go-ahead.

It's something that has the capability of sourcing diamonds by analysing a gem's chemical structure.

"It lends an element of answerability to the entire industry. When it does that genuine, honest people like it. The ones that maybe have untoward ways may not like it," said Halwas.

Halwas and Munn would like to head up the diamond unit but right now their hands are tied with their real jobs. They work for the RCMP's federal enforcement division, which looks after 196 federal statutes, including customs, excise, immigration, cultural property and aeronautics. Diamond enforcement is spare-time duty. "The diamond project is up to a point now where it's got full-time attention. All of this proactive work lays the foundation. Now we have to build on it," said Munn.

Right now they are waiting for a decision on the new positions, which should be known within the next couple of months.

As far as the diamond legislation is concerned, it's unknown when it will be dealt with by a federal department. "Every major producing country has specific legislation. We have not. We're looking at the authorization to possess. It serves to protect the honest, genuine diamond dealers and also provides police the power to recover and gives them a bit more latitude with respect to enforcement," said Halwas.

"If somebody right now possesses a quantity of rough that seems suspicious, there's nothing really we can do short of talking to him," he said.