The overexploitation of sand, caused by a perpetually increasing demand for sand, is leading to shortages. Throughout the world, the inefficiency or lack of regulations framing sand trade allow for the proliferation of informal economies and black markets within the sand industry. Out of this perfect storms emerge organized crime networks, popularly dubbed as the “sand mafia”, which profit from cheaper illegally-sourced sand and exercise violence and intimidation in order to retain control over the resource. The activity of these networks feeds into larger-scale corruption surrounding sand extraction and usage.
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The global shortage of sand has also sparked a violent black market also known as the "sand mafia", organised criminal organisations, who steal large amounts from rivers and beaches.
Unregulated sand mining is a problem in at least 70 countries, such as India, Nigeria, Italy and many more. These groups are armed, dangerous and violent groups which often have ties with local or regional governments and create unrest in local villages. There are currently no coherent international laws forbidding sand mining and where local regulation exists, it's often not enforced, especially in remote areas. |
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