[justin66]

No, it would be profitable for them regardless. You might live in some science fiction world where energy and automation were so abundant that manufacturing sand from something other material and shipping it in made economic sense.

cost = energy-intensive manufacturing + lots of shipping

It wouldn't prevent this crime because it's never going to be as cheap as going to the river and filling up a truck.

cost = a short drive + a few bribes

Technology is absolutely not the solution to everything (although sometimes it helps a lot).