COLOMBO: Sri Lankan Customs has seized a container with four metric tonnes of red sandalwood worth some Rs100 million.
According to Customs officials, the container was seized from a cargo vessel originating from Chennai, India and bound for the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The vessel was berthed at the Colombo port where Customs officials had scanned the container after a tip-off. The ship’s cargo manifest had listed the contents of this particular container as ‘sanitary ware’.
Customs officials suspect the illegal haul of red sandalwood was en route to Dubai and is part of an international sandalwood smuggling operation.
