Reports about the theft of an estimated 500 truck-loads of sand here have surfaced in Britain, becoming major news and grist for the talk-show mill, three months after the incident.

The discussions appear to be largely generated by the novelty of stealing a beach and what one newspaper, The Guardian, described as “a hefty logistical feat which has stumped police”.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) first reported the theft, quoting police detectives as saying “people in the tourism sector could be suspects, because a good beach is seen as a valuable asset to hotels on the Caribbean island”.

“But a lack of arrests made since July have led to criticism of the police,” BBC said. It also quoted Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields as saying: “It’s a very complex investigation because it involves so many aspects. You’ve got the receivers of the stolen sand, or what we believe to be the sand. The trucks themselves, the organisers and, of course, there is some suspicion that some police were in collusion with the movers of the sand.”

The sand was stolen in July from a prime 64-acre property at Coral Spring near Duncans in Trelawny, forcing the developers, Felicitas Limited, to call off a proposed $8-billion beachfront development, for which the beach would be the centrepiece.

Felicitas is jointly owned by 15 of Jamaica’s most successful entrepreneurs who shared a common dream of developing 36 six-star, luxury villas with spa, restaurant, amphitheatre and marina in phase one, that would serve as a catalyst for undeveloped Trelawny.

The Guardian said Prime Minister Bruce Golding “has taken a special interest in the case and that the Opposition People’s National Party has alleged a cover-up”.

“Police are testing other beaches for traces of the missing sand, and local media reported that some of the sand had been located on beaches on the northern coast. So far there have been no arrests. A question mark has hung over the constabulary’s forensic skills since last year, when it launched a high-profile murder investigation into the death of the Pakistan cricket coach, Bob Woolmer only to later rule out foul play,” the paper said.