Red sanders smuggling: Crackdown leads to arrest of more Chinese nationals

“Ping is not a big time smuggler. He buys a few logs and take them to various places, including Hoskote near Bengaluru, where the wood is used to make mostly prayer beads and chop sticks. He then sends them by cargo and courier services to China or Hong Kong.  Although he has given us names of a few persons from whom he procures the logs, he does not have many contacts. His main contact is in Bengaluru who is absconding,’’ said G Srinivas, SP, Chittoor.

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Yang Ping and Srinivas Raju were arrested on the basis of the information given by another small-time smuggler who was arrested earlier in a case registered with Puthalapattu in Chittoor while trying to smuggle logs in a truck.

Ping had a valid visa and a Chinese passport and this was his fourth visit to India. He was carrying nearly Rs 10,000, and another 10,000 Yuan, and usually procured two or three logs at a time. This is the first time Andhra Police have arrested a Chinese national for smuggling red sanders, although all over the country more than 50 Chinese nationals have been arrested in the past few years for their involvement in smuggling.

The maximum arrests of Chinese nationals have been made by Bengaluru police. The Andhra cops had a tough time communicating with Ping because he speaks very little English.

In recent times, several Chinese and local smugglers have been nabbed by Bengaluru police. On May 2, a 22-year old Chinese student was arrested along with three others including her boyfriend for allegedly trying to buy red sanders from their local contacts. The accused has been identified as Loung Xiang Zhou Deng Chang. She was pursuing second year engineering in a reputed college in Bengaluru. Her boyfriend has been identified as Zhang Guaxiu Lin Wei, 22, who is also a student in China.

The police said that the duo along with their tourist guide Saleem Pasha and driver Shiva Kumar were arrested red-handed while they were travelling in a car with red sanders logs. Preliminary investigation revealed that Zhang had come to the city in January with multi-entry visa. The accused told the police that they had obtained the consignment from a person in Andhra Pradesh through Saleem Pasha.

In January this year, four Chinese nationals were arrested by Bengaluru Rural police for possessing six tonnes of red sanders wood which they were allegedly preparing to smuggle to China under the guise of
furniture.