After the smugglers started to create pressure, check-post administration has deployed four employees for the security of the check-post. But that seems not enough. About eight tons of red sandalwood was taken to the Chinese land illegally on Friday dawn by the porters, sources claimed. [break]
Smugglers take sandalwood to Khasha in containers carried by porters after crossing the Bhotekoshi River. "They are complaining about the increasing risk and cost through the illegal route," an employee working at the check-post said. Those assisting the smugglers previously have become the main traders now. It is the new lot of smugglers who are building such pressure on officials at the Tatopani check-post. The new group is active in the illegal trade of red sandalwood for five months.
"They threaten us saying that an arrangement has been made at the government level and officials should not stop the passage of red sandalwood," an employee at the check-post said on the condition of anonymity.
He said the smugglers are complaining about the growing risks in the lengthy process of crossing the river which raises suspicion among the locals who in turn demand money. The risk is higher as the police might get a whiff and seize the sandalwood.
Earlier, smuggling of sandalwood to Khasa through Tatopani had virtually stopped with police frequently seizing truckloads of the precious wood. However, a recent sharp rise in the market price has re-energized local smugglers to to take the risk of smuggling of red sandalwood.
The trade of red sandalwood has been prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
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