The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence(DRI) has seized around 611.76 metric tonnes of red sanders across the country in the 2011-12 fiscal, throwing major questions about the security systems in place in the various ports. Apart from this, the DRI officials suspect that around double the quantity of the seized good has been successfully smuggled out of India.
The DRI data points out that 2011-12 witnessed the highest quantity of red sanders smuggled out of the country. There were 34 cases registered across the country, including Kerala, in the same year.
In 2010-11, there were 27 cases registered and 373.3 metric tonnes of red sanders were seized by the DRI. 337.2 metric tonnes of the good were seized in 2009-10.
“The number of cases have gone up primarily because of the increased demand in the international market. After a thorough system of checks were put in place, the quantity of the smuggled good from India has come down.
The price of red sanders is sky high owing to its increased international demand. A couple of consignments of red sanders would fetch over a crore and hence there are increased attempts to smuggle the good,” the DRI official said.
The skyrocketing price of red sanders is a cause of concern to the DRI officials. In order to rein in the illegal trade and transport of the good, the DRI will join hands with the Customs Department in an attempt to beef up the security checks.
Similarly, the DRI also seized fake notes of face value `2,16,62,500. Around 13 persons were arrested and seven cases were registered in connection with this. The DRI had registered 527 cases for the evasion of duty worth `1,841.60 crore.
The highest number of cases for the evasion of duty has been registered for machineries and spare parts, followed by electronic goods. About 35,648.576 kg of narcotics and psychotropic substances, including heroin, ganja, hashish, ephedrine and ketamine, were seized in 2011.
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