Customs seize red sanders wood worth ₹15 lakh, 3 held

The customs department has busted a crime syndicate allegedly involved in smuggling of red sanders wood by using wrong labels for the consignment.

The customs department has busted a crime syndicate allegedly involved in smuggling of red sanders wood by using wrong labels for the consignment.

Three persons have been arrested in the case including a customs broker. (HT file photo)

“On a tip off, the special intelligence and investigation branch (export), customs air cargo complex (ACC), Mumbai, investigated against a syndicate involved in illegal export of red sanders articles by declaring them to be ‘assorted religious malas, small and big door frame chairs/stools/tables in dismantled condition’,” said Anil Kumar Gupta, commissioner of customs, ACC, Sahar. The declared value of the seized consignment was Rs15 lakh claimed sources.

Three persons have been arrested in the case including a customs broker. Gupta added that a live consignment that was to be exported was examined and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Navi Mumbai and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata as Red Sanders or Red Sandalwood confirmed the products to be made of red sanders.

Officials stated that the persons involved in the case were interrogated and they have admitted that 53 consignments of red sanders articles with an estimated market value of Rs 8,79,09,200 were exported in the last two years by the same modus operandi. The accused have been remanded to judicial custody.