Mugabe's regime is certainly behaving as if it is. In mid-November, the government sent in the military to crack down on unsanctioned miners. Soldiers even fired on miners from helicopters, local sources say. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says nearly 140 people have been killed.
One insider close to the ruling party said the scope of the crackdown was a measure of how significant the diamonds were to the regime.
"I don't think they would expend such resources if there was not something significant there," he says.
A prison official in Mutare said top figures in the ruling ZANU-PF party and security officials are running the illegal diamond trade here.
"The people in the police, prisons service, army and CIO [Central Intelligence Organization] have got groups of people who are working for those lieutenants, known as syndicates," says the official. "Usually these high-ranked officers in the armed forces are working for the ministers, governors and other ZANU-PF bigwigs."
The exploration rights at the Marange field were initially held by a subsidiary of the diamond giant De Beers, which let its license expire in early 2006. The rights were then taken up by a British company, African Consolidated Resources.
In late 2006, a rush began, driven by the large quantities of diamonds close to the surface -- making the site almost unique. The government promptly evicted the company in much the same manner it evicted white farmers from their land in 2000. Today, the site is ostensibly being developed by the state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp., but most of the gems find their way onto the black market.
The British company continues to pursue a legal battle in the High Court over the right to mine the area, but in cases involving property rights in the past, High Court judges -- appointed by Mugabe -- have sided with the government.
Almost irresistible
In a country where the paralyzed economy offers few opportunities, diamonds are almost irresistible. Ronald, 31, who had given up working for an insurance firm for black-market currency dealing, was drawn into illegal mining. He gave only his first name, fearing possible jail.
Ronald says he saw five unsanctioned miners, including two women, shot to death by police on the diamond field late last month as they fled carrying large sacks of soil. One of those killed was a policeman mining illegally.
"It's like war," Ronald says.
