Customs officials at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Whitefield seized 4.8 tonnes of red sanders, estimated to be worth ₹2.4 crore, concealed among furniture in 65 plywood boxes. The consignment comprising 70 containers had arrived from Tamil Nadu and was scheduled to be shipped to Taiwan on Saturday.
It was falsely declared as furniture meant for export to Taiwan and a few pieces were placed in front to mislead officials at the depot. The racket came to light when officials at the ICD were examining one of the containers. They found pieces of sofa sets and dining tables placed on the top. On further examination, they unearthed three large logs of red sanders inside one of the containers.
Customs sleuths then opened all 70 boxes and found 65 of them had red sanders logs. In total, 195 red sander logs were found.
The Customs team at ICD alerted the Karnataka Forest Department on the seizure. Investigators are probing into the person who booked the container.
