Welcome to Alberta Jewellery Industry Crime Watch

In recent years, the criminal use of jewellery and precious metals is on the rise. In the United States, statistics show that these commodities are the fastest growing sector of all commodities with values now only second to that of automobiles. The same statistics can be inferred for Canada and there are many reasons for this increase. Ultimately this translates into increasing criminal activity centered on acquisition of jewellery. Home invasions, and residential break and enters are ways for criminals to acquire these products but the greatest threats are to the jewellers and industry personnel who are regularly the subject of vicious criminal attacks. Often a criminal will attack several jewellers, over a short period of time, covering a lot of territory and several policing jurisdictions in order to acquire jewellery.

Once criminals have obtained jewellery, these proceeds of crime are like money in the bank until the criminal disposes of the products to obtain cash or trade them for illegal products such as drugs. Disposing of the stolen jewellery products requires re-introducing the stolen jewellery, back into the legitimate jewellery market. Stolen jewellery is often re-introduced back into the jewellery market through selling the jewellery to jewellery stores, pawn shops and auction houses, that are unaware that the product is stolen. Usually the only way a jewellery store knows if another store has been attacked by criminals is through the media and word of mouth and this information carries little details about what was stolen and what may turn up.