The accused were travelling in two tempos with the red sandalwood. (Representational Image)THE Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested three persons with 1,553 kg red sandalwood valued at Rs 7.5 crore.
The accused have been identified as Asgar Ismail (49), Wajid Abbas Ansari (32) and Ali Shantaram (32). The police said that the red sandalwood had been brought illegally from Chennai and the three accused planned to send it to China via Goa.
The accused were travelling in two tempos with the red sandalwood. Acting on a tip-off, a police team along with forest officials stopped and arrested them. “We are on the lookout for the mastermind. So far, we have learnt that the red sandalwood had arrived in the city from Chennai and were to be sent to China through Goa,” a police officer said.
Meanwhile, the CISF caught a Sudanese national for illegally carrying 17 kg sandalwood in his luggage. Alzain Mustafa Alzain Salim was to fly to Addis Ababa from Mumbai airport.
