| Subject: ABC: East Timor police question
five over sandalwood smuggling
ABC News Online
East Timor police question five over sandalwood smuggling
East Timorese police are questioning five people detained in connection
with a smuggling racket involving highly-prized sandalwood.
UN police spokesman Fernando Souto says the five men, all drivers, were
apprehended last week in Dili after seven lorries loaded with sandalwood
were intercepted after leaving eastern Baucau.
He said the timber had been confiscated and handed over to the Ministry
of Forestry and Agriculture as investigators tried to assess the value of
the illicit cargo believed to be heading for sale in Indonesian West
Timor.
Mr Souto says more sandalwood is believed to be stockpiled in Baucau.
It was the lure of vast sandalwood forests that first attracted the
Portuguese to Timor in the 16th century but only a few stands now remain
and logging of the species is strictly forbidden.
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