The Chittoor district police had launched a special drive against the smugglers of red sanders in Seshachalam hill range about a year ago in tandem with their counterparts in the neighbouring districts as well as the forest authorities.
"Through this drive, we have successfully managed to keep the international smugglers at bay and arrested over a dozen kingpins of the racket from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala over the past few months," Chittoor Superintendent of Police Kanthi Rana Tata told PTI.
Police have seized as much as 90 tonnes of red sanders till November 1 this year, as compared to 60 tonnes in the previous year. A record number of 114 cases were registered in connection with the smuggling of red sanders, so far this year in comparison to 66 during 2011. In fact, the 66 cases registered last year was more than the total number of cases booked during 2001-2010 period.
As many as 684 arrests have been made from January this year till date in comparison to the 335 arrests last year and police found that organised smuggling syndicates were operating from Chennai, Mangalore, Bangalore, Mumbai and North-Eastern states and were having their agents in Dubai.
Red sanders, also known as red sandalwood is a valuable wood which has a huge demand overseas, particularly from China and Japan, where it is used for making cosmetic products, furniture, musical instruments and even drugs. One tonne of the wood costs Rs 10 lakh locally, but is sold at double the rate in the international market.
The red sanders grows only in the Seshachalam hill ranges, spread across Kadapa, Chittoor and Kurnool in Rayalaseema region and parts of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh in the country, though majority of red sanders smuggling takes place from Chittoor and Kadapa districts.
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The authorities have claimed that the drive has not only helped in curbing the smuggling activity in the region, but has also kept under check tree-felling to a large extent.
However, the tree felling, transportation and sale of red sanders is banned as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has imposed a ban on its international trade. (MORE)