Police on Wednesday arrested a Chinese National for allegedly attempting to smuggle timber from an indigenous tree, Tsanya to China.
Police officials confirmed of the development in an interview and identified the suspect as Lin Jie, 42.
The suspect was arrested at Kamuzu International airport as he was trying to fry out of the country.
According to Police, the suspect was arrested after after X-Ray Machine exposed the timber. The timber weighs 36.95 kgs.
When quizzed, the suspect through an interpreter told the police that he wanted to explore some market opportunities in China with the Tsanya samples.
“These are just samples; we cannot export 36.95 kgs only if we want to. If we find markets out there then we can be exporting in Big Containers,” he said.
The suspect has since been granted bail and he appear in Court on Friday to answer a case of being Found in Possession of Forest Products without Permits contrary to Section 68 ( 1 ) ( B ) of Forest Act.
