Huge Red Sanders haul seized off Mumbai coast

India: In one of the major seizures, which saw a two day sea-air operation, the Indian Coast Guard and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 23,000 kg of Red Sand-ers worth around Rs 9 crore while it was being smuggled from Mumbai to Dubai on December 4 at 8.30 pm. A barge MV Ganga Sagar and a dhow ‘Al Marwan 10’ were apprehended by two Coast Guard vessels, ICGS Subhadra Kumari Chauhan (commanded by Commandant KJ Singh) and Achook (commanded by Lt Commander Rahul Gautam); a Chetak helicopter and a Dornier aircraft 72 miles, that is 150 km south-west of Mumbai’s coast. The Coast Guard and the DRI tasted success after a continuous two-day sea-air operation after intelligence reports were received about the illegal trade by the DRI on December 2.

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Red Sanders is an endangered species, protected under Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES). Its export and import is banned. It is also protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Red Sanders is mainly smuggled to Malaysia, China, Singapore and other parts of South-East and East Asia. It is mostly smuggled via Dubai. Red sanders is a species endemic to the Rayalaseema region (Cuddapah, Kurnool and Chittoor) and parts of Nellore district in the state of Andhra Pradesh. This is in high demand for its characteristic wavy grains and is used for making musical instruments and certain medicaments. Price in local market is around Rs 4,000 per kg. In international market it is more than Rs 10,000 per kg. The Coast Guard after intercepting the two vessels detained 20 people – eight from the dhow and 12 from the barge. “The barge was carrying 100 metric tons of maize in gunny bags. The gunny bags were supposed to provide cover for the Red Sanders once it was transported to Al Marwan 10,” said Commandant Deepak Sharma, Regional PRO for Commander, Coast Guard Region (West). Red Sanders is an endangered species whose trade is banned and is also protected under the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES). While the barge MV Ganga Sagar left from Mumbai with the consignment, Al Marwan 10 arrived at the spot of their meeting from Veraval, Gujarat. “Al Marwan 10 had originally set its course for Dubai from Gujarat to avoid doubt from the authorities there. After sailing towards Dubai for a bit, they turned southwards,” Sharma said. MV Ganga Sagar was supposed to tranship the Red Sanders at sea to Al Marwan 10, which was then supposed to take it to Dubai. Using what the Coast Guard calls them, Gambit Tactics during dark hours, the vessels were caught after a short chase by the indigenous patrol boats. While there were rumours of firearms being used by the Coast Guard during the operation, Sharma denied them and said that the operation was carried out extremely quietly. The alleged accused were handed over to the Yellow Gate police. The police will now be investigating if the arrested accused were aware about the nature of their work, or were orderQed to do it by a third party. (Source : The Free Press Journal)