Red sanders wood worth Rs 1.56 crore seized in Gujarat

"A consignment of red sanders wood logs was brought by train in a container from Punjab, which was loaded on a ship at Mundra port. It was seized at Kandla port when the vessel arrived there for further loading," a DRI official said.

"The logs, weighing around 13 tonnes, are worth over Rs 1.56 crore in the international market," he said.

"The container in which the logs were concealed was scheduled to be delivered to Dubai," he said.

As per official sources, red sanders wood fetches around Rs 12-14 lakh per tonne in the international market.

A few Gujarat ports off late have emerged as a transit point for smuggling of the prized plant species, which is considered endangered, to West Asia.

In the past, several consignments of red sanders, a prohibited item for export, have been seized by DRI from Kandla and Mundra ports in Kutch district.