Eleven Chinese nationals, including two women, were caught at the Mumbai international airport on Friday while attempting to smuggle out 370 kilograms red sandalwood worth `40 lakh in the international market. They were preparing to board a Malaysian Airlines flight to Kuala Lumpur and planned to go to China from there.
The accused, all aged between 20 to 30, were slated to board the flight when the contraband was discovered in their check-in luggage. “The logs of red sandalwood were hidden in 11 different bags, but were not concealed well, which made it easier to discover. It doesn’t seem likely that they belonged to an organised smuggling syndicate, but we are verifying all possibilities,” said airport customs commissioner P.M. Saleem. Their visa showed that a few had arrived on the June 22, while others had reached Mumbai only two days ago.
Officers also pointed out that usually smugglers take the cargo route in transporting red sandalwood. “The most common is the air cargo and sea route, where smugglers transport it through international couriers. Countless cases have been reported at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) where it is hidden in containers,” added a customs officer on condition of anonymity.
The 11 accused are currently in the custody of customs officers and have been booked under relevant sections of the Customs Act and the Wildlife Protection Act. Red Sandalwood, exclusive only to India, is found in the forests bordering Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
They are in high demand world over for their use in medicines and are normally smuggled out to Russia, China, south-east Asian countries and the middle-east.
The export of red sandal is prohibited in terms of Convention on Internat-ional Trade in Endangered species of wild flora and fauna (CITES) to which India is a signatory.