Red Sandalwood worth crores seized in NMPT. Four arrested

Red Sandalwood worth crores seized in NMPT. Four arrested

mangaloretoday.com

Mangalore, Oct 24: Huge quantity of Endangered species- Red Sandalwood seized in a container meant for export to Dubai at NMPT container yard on Oct 23, 2012. Mustafa Abdul rahman, Abdul Kalam alias Asad, Edward George and Salih M.K. were arrested and produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Mangalore, today, October 24, 2012. The court has remanded them to judicial custody. 

 

 

On the basis of intelligence, the officers of DRI. reginal Unit at Mangalore searched one container belonging to M/s Rnath Exports, KRPs -340, Kattithara Road, Maradu. Cochin which were kept ready for exports in the container yard at New Mangalore Port Trust on 23-10-2012. The containers were declared to contain Plywood for export to Jebel Ali. Dubai. On examination of the said container bearing No. CMAU 5699805, logs of Red Sandelwood, 240 in number weighing about 5810 Kgs were found concealed. The said goods were not declared to Customes for exports and were attempted to be smuggled out of the country.  As per the Export Policy in Schedule 2 of ITC-HC classifications under Foreign Trade Policy 2009-2014, Red Sandalwood is prohibited absolutely for export. Red Sandal wood is an endangered species. 

 

 

The exporter, M/s Rnath Exports, Mangalore has attempted to smuggle a prohibited item in contravention to the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 and hense the goods are confisicated and deposited in the Customs Godown in Panambur, Mangalore. The total value of the seized Red Sandal wood is Rs.58,10,000/- and plywood is valued Rs. 5,00,000/-

 

The value of the Red Sandal wood in Dubai is considered to be three times higher than that in India. It is estimated to be around Rs. 16 Crore in Dubai.

The DRI has revealed that Mustafa had planned to flee to Malaysia immedietly after the shipping of the  Red sandal wood. While Abdul Kalam supplied the Red Sandalwood, Mohamed Salih arranged the storage and transportation. Edward George has assisted Mustafa in his export operations and finance. The Authorities feel that these men  were doing smuggling activities for long. Investigation into their past business activities are on. 

Meanwhile, the DRI in Cochin has raided the godown of Mohamed Salih and others and believed to have seized more  goods, valued to the tune of over 18 Crore. More details in this regard are awaited.