The case of the stolen sand is slowly moving through Jamaica's court system, with a trial date set for Aug. 18 in criminal court in Falmouth.

Last July, 500 truckloads of prime white sand were stolen from a resort development in Coral Spring, on the island’s northwest coast.

The accused are the two principals of Bedrock Building and Aggregates, operator of a mining business based in Kingston, and three other men. All were charged last December following investigations into the disappearance of $70 million worth of sand from the 64-acre, beachfront property.

Resort developer Felicitas in November filed an $8.1 million lawsuit in Jamaica’s Supreme Court against Bedrock Building and Aggregates. Felicitas also named Fiesta Jamaica, operator of the Grand Palladium Hotel & Resorts in Lucea; Riu Jamaicotel, operator of the Riu Tropical Bay in Montego Bay; and the owners of the Palmyra Resort and Spa at Rose Hall in Montego Bay.

Felicitas contends that the defendant hotels were aware that the sand had been illegally obtained.

In December, sand samples from the beaches of the three hotels, as well as samples from other properties, were sent to a laboratory for analysis.

The results have not been made public, but an executive representing the Coral Spring project said at the time that "the forensic tests support a conclusion that samples of sand taken from the defendant hotels’ properties are very likely to have come from the Coral Spring property."