An Irish tourist has ended up in the hospital after he attempted to steal a diamond ring worth $40,000 by swallowing it.
Ian Campbell, who was holidaying in the southwestern Turkish province of Muğla’s Marmaris district, visited a jewelry store in the town on Oct. 4.
According to Demirören News Agency, the 54-year-old tourist grabbed an expensive ring and tried to leave the store by hiding it in his hand.
When the jeweler became suspicious and locked the door before the tourist left, Campbell quickly put the ring in his mouth and swallowed it.
The jeweler called the police but Campbell denied any wrongdoing. Security camera footage, however, showed the tourist swallowed the ring.
A prosecutor instructed the police to take the tourist to Marmaris State Hospital for surgery to remove the ring, if he could not give it back “by natural means.”
