XP

Sand is something we have always used as an analogy for (near) infinite. We just seem to have too much of it.

It is a very useful material. For example, it is used when fracking, an advanced drilling method. It is used for road construction, used as construction fill, and it is also used in the production of construction materials like concrete blocks, bricks, and pipes. It's also used for water filtration. The list goes on and on. Sand is just very useful.

Ironically the largest sources of easily accessible sand isn't all that useful. Desert sand is actually too fine and smooth to be used for construction purposes. Even the Burj Khalifa skyscr.a.p.er in Dubai used imported sand from Australia.

Ocean sand on the other hand would first need to be purified of salt, which would considerably increase the price.

Thus the preferred type of construction sand tends to be riverbed sand.

[Sand extraction from riverbeds is also a very harmful process which will end up polluting the water and destroying habitats]

This leads to the following conflict; "Why buy expensive sand from a legal mine when you can suck up a riverbed? Or nick a beach? Or an entire island?"

The main force behind illegal sand extraction happens to be the sand mafia. Although it might sound ridiculous, they are not to be underestimated. They have already killed law enforcement officers and reporters who've meddled with their business.