Smuggling of teak wood at Thane district's Shahapur taluka has once again come to the fore with a team of the state forest department carrying out a raid and recovering nine to 10 truckloads of it worth Rs 15lakh. According to the team, the market price of the seized wood is pegged at around Rs 1 crore.

On Tuesday, range forest officer Prashant Deshmukh from Shahapur forest division received a tip off from sources that a consignment of teak wood would be transported late in the night. Thereafter, they laid a trap and seized the consignment that was being transported on a bullock cart. However, the person who was driving the cart managed to run away on spotting the officials. The forest department suspects the presence of a bigger smuggling racket.