Twelve tons of red sandalwood has illegally entered Khasa Bazaar, the bordering Tibetan town, with police protection, according to the state-owned Radio Nepal.

Quoting the locals residents of Sindhupalchowk district, Radio Nepal said the police helped a container stuffed with 12 tons of red sandalwood to cross Tatopani checkpoint.

There were no other details about the smuggling case. Police authorities are yet to react to the news report.

Several cases of sandalwood smuggling had come into light in the recent months with hundreds of tones of red sandalwood seized by the Maoist-aligned Young Communist League (YCL). nepalnews.com mk Feb 06 08