By IANS,
Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) : Two sandalwood smugglers were arrested and jailed here Tuesday and contraband worth Rs.1.5 million was seized from them, the Tamil Nadu police said.
“A. Mohammed, 37, was fleeing in a van with contraband sandalwood worth Rs.1.5 million. When he was nabbed after a chase, he got his boss U. Ali, 38, from Kerala’s Palakkad (to come) with a bribe of Rs.100,000 (for the police). Both were arrested and jailed on multiple charges,” police inspector K. Murugesan told IANS.
“Our pretension to be amenable for a bribe netted smuggling ring leader Ali, whose other contacts have been noted down and are being checked for other operations with the cooperation of forest officials,” Murugesan added.
Situated 500 km southwest of state capital Chennai close to the border of Kerala, this area abounds in smuggling rings that target sandalwood trees worth at least Rs.2 billion a year in the forests, according to police.