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Forget blood diamonds, there’s a string of robberies raging in Venezuela and there is no bling involved. Instead, the thieves are straight snatching wigs in the most literal way possible. You may want to hold on to your Virgin Remy weave while you read this one.

According to reports by TIME and CNN, women in Venezuela are being robbed at gunpoint for their hair. Locals tell CNN the wig snatchers, called piranhas, then sell the stolen hair to beauty salons, where natural hair can go for more than $500 to be used in hair extensions.

As reported by CNN:

The thievery appears to be organized by a local gang, which holds women at gunpoint and forces them to tie their hair into ponytails so that the gang members can more easily cut off their locks. Demand for extensions in Venezuela is high, and one stylist there says that sales have increased by 30 percent since the first hair-snatching incidents were reported.

One woman, Mariana Rodriguez, told CNN about her assault: “I thought they were going to steal my cell phone, because I had it in my hand at the time, but they took out scissors,” she said. “They did not give me a chance to think or to run or anything. And when I looked, I no longer had any hair.”

It is very real out here to accommodate the growing demand for hair extensions, but who knew it would get violent? Do we have to start asking our beauty suppliers if their weave is conflict free?

It looks like Beyonce’s big snip was just in time to save a young Venezuelan girl from getting her ponytail yanked!

SOURCE: CNN