Gaborone - Before entering the world's largest diamond sorting facility in Gaborone, you have to check your chewing gum at the door - lest you be tempted to stud it with a stone. You may also be asked to turn out your pockets, show the soles of your shoes and empty out your pen to prove you aren't concealing a gem.
But routine searches are a thing of the past at the Diamond Trading Company Botswana (DTCB), a joint venture between the government of Botswana, the world's largest diamond producer, and Debswana - itself a joint venture between the government and mining giant de Beers.
Instead of hands, there are 100 security cameras constantly scanning workers and visitors for sticky fingers.
And every gem - or nearly - is accounted for by weight. If the weight of the box of rocks a sorter returns at the end of his shift doesn't exactly match the box he or she was given at the start of the shift, the building is locked down and no-one allowed leave until the missing stone is found.
Don't even think about making a dash for it. The sorting area is separated from the exit by a bewildering array of centrally- controlled security doors, portals and turnstiles.
Not to mention the hawk-eyed security guards. At the end of a recent shift, the guard appointed to tail the German Press Agency
