Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Mon, 1 Apr 2013 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090508/2316154813/dailydirt-actual-theft-underground-economies.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090508/2316154813/dailydirt-actual-theft-underground-economies.shtml unemployment or GDP are more than just slightly off. Here are just a few interesting stories related to some fairly sizable underground economies.

• An underground economy of off-the-book businesses could account for trillions in commerce and employ nearly half of all workers. This gray market called "System D" could be worth $10 trillion per year, making it the biggest economy after the US (which itself has an underground economy estimated to be about 10-20% of its GDP). [url]
• A real-life heist involving about 8 men posing as police officers made off with about $50 million in diamonds from a plane headed for Zurich, Switzerland. It might be difficult for these robbers to sell these diamonds through legitimate routes, so the jewels will probably become part of an underground currency. [url]
• Surprisingly, Tide detergent isn't just soap; it's also used as a currency for buying drugs. Procter & Gamble hasn't seen much of a negative effect on its brand, so bottles of liquid Tide will likely continue to be part of the black market. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20090508/2316154813 Fri, 9 Nov 2012 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101230/15582112475/dailydirt-big-food-heists.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101230/15582112475/dailydirt-big-food-heists.shtml

Over 80,000 pounds of walnuts were stolen in California -- possibly by a delivery driver with a distinct Russian accent. Rocky and Bullwinkle think they know who to investigate.... [url]

A stolen food truck in Florida was recovered -- in a crazy guy's backyard as part of some kind of doomsday-type bunker. The police commented that it's okay to build doomsday bunkers in your backyard, but just don't make them out of stolen vehicles and equipment. [url]

This summer, Canada's strategic maple syrup reserves were raided by thieves, making off with about $30 million worth of the sugary condiment. Thankfully, they recovered 600-800 barrels of it in New Brunswick and have it under police protection. An investigation is still on-going to find out who could be behind such a sickly sweet score. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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