Sand thieves, forensics, and the Queen

[Mark_C]

So, driving for a few hours today with NPR on.
The Planet Money show comes on and they're speaking of all things, sand.
Big business sand.
So much so that hundreds of thousands of tons are dredged, dug up, and stolen from various regions every year for everything from creating concrete and glass, to resanding resort beaches, to use in expanding territory (Singapore has increased its land mass by 20% by buying black market sand).
Its enough of a problem that the UK Crown is launching lawsuits and special investigations.
I'm astounded that there are actually specialist sand forensic technicians.

Its an interesting listen...
Episode 853: Peak Sand

 

[Mark Shelly]

So what you are saying is that Singapore has been soiled by the work of dirty sand thiefs. The real question is how do the forensic technicians get fingerprints off of the sand. At best, I would think they would be too grainy.

 

[Mark_C]

Mark's membership is up soon, right?

 

[DangerDave]