According to the APF Border Security Office Morang, the team seized two sandalwood logs weighing around 50 kg after chasing the smugglers´ motorbike for some 800 meters. [break]“When they learnt that they were being followed, the smugglers threw away the sandalwood, which was tied to their bike and fled,” said Superintendent of Police (SP) Radhab Singh Thapa.
Armed Police Force (APF) Baranga in-charge Inspector Krishna Bahadur Basnet informed that the smugglers had planned to smuggle the logs through the border check post and transport them to Pathari VDC through Gobindapur VDC.
“The incident shows that smuggling in small quantities has started at the eastern border check post,” said Basnet.
Basnet informed that the confiscated logs can have a market value of over Rs 500,000 or Rs 10,000 per kilo.
“They tried to smuggle in the red sandalwood in small quantities. Learning from this incident we have doubled the security personnel at the check post,” said SP Thapa.
Thapa added that they have handed over the seized sandalwood to the Morang District Forest Officer for necessary investigations.
Similarly, the Armed Police Force in Morang has in the last three days seized around 400kg of betel nuts being smuggled to India.
Border Security Office Morang informed that the betel nuts was confiscated in small quantities from various border check posts in the district. “As we have tightened security at the border check post, the smugglers are using different tactics to transport the contraband,” Thapa also said.
Thapa informed that they have recently handed various smuggled items such as betel nuts, cloth, edible oil, home-made liquor and sugar, altogether worth around Rs 450,000, to Morang Customs Office.
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