Cops bust red sanders smuggling network in Gounderpalayam

The arrested persons were identified as Rajesh and Boopathy. According to sources, the Customs intercepted a consignment booked as auto spare parts in 2017 and seized 40 tonnes of red sanders logs which were to be smuggled to South East Asia. It was kept in a Central government godown in Madhavaram.

In the first week of March, 1.1 tonnes of it was found missing during an inspection and a case was filed. The police said that the logs were transported out of the godown in smaller quantities over a period of time.

On information that the red sanders logs were kept in the godown in Minjur, the police went there. To their surprise, excluding the 1.1 tonnes stolen from the government godown, there were 30 more tonnes of red sanders stored in the godown, valued at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore.

The logs were recovered and handed over to the district forest officer, Tiruvallur district. The owner of the godown is being questioned by a special police team to ascertain the source of the logs and also for more information on the theft. The police added that the gang was waiting for the right opportunity to snuggle the red sanders to South East Asian countries. “We are hunting for all those are linked to the network,” the police said.