Missing: Jamaican beach

A beach has gone missing in Jamaica, and no one is blaming erosion, global warming, or stormy weather. Police suspect that someone(s) stole five hundred truckloads of white sand from a planned resort at Coral Spring Beach. The theft was in July, but no arrests have yet been made, which begs the question: How does the removal of five hundred truckloads of sand — or anything — go unnoticed?

Many suspect that there’s been some sort of cover-up, and even the police spokesperson has said that some officers were probably involved in the theft. Yet they insist there has been no cover-up. They simply say that the lack of charges in the case is due to its complexity and the number of people involved. But do they even know who was involved? That much is unclear.

Illegal sand mining is common in Jamaica because the sand is a valuable construction material. However, the volume and type of sand stolen suggests that the thieves are probably from the tourism industry, like other hotels. The beach that was stolen from Coral Springs was to be part of a $108 million resort complex, but its theft has held up the development plans.