Red Sander Smugglers Using Luxury Cars With Many Licence Plates to Elude Detection

Tirupati: Smuggling of red sanders is thriving despite the vigil from a special task force, as gangs are employing new tactics to evade police and forest checks.

Smugglers have discarded lorries and large vehicles and are instead using luxury cars and SUVs with multiple licence plates. They take rural routes to move the contraband in pieces.

In two recent cases, these gangs that used costly vehicles to navigate rural roads in Chittoor and Kadapa districts to bypass the check posts eventually landed in the police net.

The special task force intercepted a car at Nellipatla in Baireddypalle mandal of Chittoor district, after a chase through hundreds of kilometres. The car travelled from Chundur via Piler, Kalakada, Mahal, Kalikiri and Somala and reached Punganur road. From there, it passed via Battam Doddi, Baireddypalle mandal, crossed four roads and went to Nellipatla, where the police seized it.

In another incident last month, Palamaner subdivision police chased a vehicle carrying red sander logs bound for Karnataka. The smugglers diverted their route through rural areas from the Palamaner bypass to Chinnuru in Gangavaram mandal but ended in police custody.

Police said these smugglers had changed licence plates to do smuggling.

A police officer noted, "In the past, smuggling was done via a pilot system. A two-wheeler would go first and provided route clearance to the vehicle carrying the contraband or, if there is presence of cops on the road, they reroute the sanders-laden vehicle.

However, the smugglers have changed their styles, due to heightened surveillance. “They are now using expensive cars with multiple license plates to avoid detection."

“They quickly change licence plates when they suspect the authorities are closing in on them. These license plates are bogus, showing numbers of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka or Telangana. This makes the tracking and apprehending the smugglers a significant challenge to the law-enforcing agencies,” he added.

The police and forest authorities said they are fine-tuning their efforts to meet the new challenges, curb the illegal trade and protect the precious resources of the Seshachalam forests.