Several middlemen told Human Rights Watch that they worked for the same South African buyer.55 For several months in 2008, they would travel once a week to Johannesburg, South Africa, to get “bags” of money from this same buyer and to give him diamonds.56 Another member of the police based in Harare told Human Rights Watch: I started my first syndicate with local diamond miners after we had arrested eight of them at a checkpoint that I was manning with colleagues. For the three months that my team was based in Chiadzwa, we worked with the syndicate. And when it was time to leave Chiadzwa we handed over our syndicate to our colleagues who took over the guarding from us.57 One local miner told Human Rights Watch that joining a police syndicate was often involuntary; the only alternative was arrest: In August 2008 we were caught by the police, 14 of us working in the diamond fields. They took us to their base at Chakohwa where 17 others were already detained. One policeman said to us, “Either you all become our syndicate and work for us, or we detain you and take you to court after several days of languishing and gnashing of teeth. The choice is yours.” We all chose to be a syndicate for the police officers.58 Several members of the police as well as local miners told Human Rights Watch that police frequently coerced miners to join syndicates under police control. In November 2008 RBZ Governor Gono estimated that there were some 500 syndicates operating in Marange at any given time.59 Under Zimbabwean law, it is illegal for members of the police to run syndicates under the Police Act, which prohibits police from improperly using their position for private gain and 55 Human Rights Watch interviews with middlemen K.C., V.C., T.N., S.M., and T.B., Mutare, February 9, 2009. The interviewees told Human Rights Watch that they worked for the South African principal, Glen Aglioti, a businessman who was convicted in December 2007 by a South African court of drug trafficking and received a suspended 10-year prison sentence in a plea bargain. A newspaper article reported that Aglioti was also accused by South Africa’s National Prosecuting authority of running a criminal syndicate involving senior police officers in South Africa. See Chris McGreal, “South Africa police chief applies to stop investigation against him,” The Guardian (UK), January 11, 2008. 56 Ibid. 57 Human Rights Watch interview with police officer G.M., Harare, February 13, 2009. 58 Human Rights Watch interview with local miner T.C., Marange, February 22, 2009. 59 “Chiadzwa: Army sent in to quell gun battles,” Zimbabwe Financial Gazette, November 13, 2008. 23 Human Rights Watch | June 2009