Mastermind in red-sander hoodwink held after 3 days

MYSTERIOUS MORPHING | Smuggling operation to Sharjah involved a 9.6 MT container of sandalwood worth ₹10 cr; accused sent to 14 days judicial custody

- Ashish Singh

Three days after the FPJ reported the sensational red sander smuggling bid by pulling the wool over officials' eyes at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT), the Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch (SIIB-Export) has arrested the alleged key person, Santosh Nalawade.

Evading the authorities for several days, Nalawade, the Importer-Exporter Code (IEC) holder for Elite Exim Trading, was arrested on Tuesday. He was presented before the Uran court, which has remanded him to 14 days of judicial custody. This marks the third and crucial arrest in the case, following the earlier arrests of transporter Akshay Bhausaheb Aher and driver Ganesh Sukhadare, who are associates of Nalawade.

The smuggling operation to Sharjah involved a 9.6 MT container of red-sander (sandalwood) valued at Rs10 crore shielded by a container of western commode toilets. Both containers had identical specifications, including size, weight, and the container number.