The rare Bahia Emerald, which was mined in Brazil in 2001 and smuggled to the US, has long been the subject of competing claims of ownership

The 180,000-carat Bahia Emerald has long been held in Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department custody, but a federal judge's ruling could clear the way for it to return to Brazil.

Nearly a quarter-century ago, a giant, malformed emerald was illegally wrenched from Brazilian soil and smuggled across the ocean and into the United States, where it has been the object of intrigue, obsession and dispute ever since.

But now the Brazilian emerald is finally poised to come out – and head home. On Thursday, United States District Judge Reggie B. Walton said that a request by the American and Brazilian governments to return the emerald to its native country can move forward,