RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL — Police launched an operation in six states to dismantle a gang alleged to have illegally cut down and exported to the United States a rare wood commonly used to make musical instruments.
Some 350 federal officers, supported by state police and government environmental agents, arrested 23 people and were searching for two others, police inspector Tatiana Torres said Thursday.
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service said it carried out a search in central Massachusetts in connection with the investigation, but gave no details.
Police also began serving 67 search and seizure warrants for the illegal extraction of Brazilian rosewood, an endangered tree species native to eastern Brazil and found only in this country.
Rosewood, known in Brazil as jacaranda da bahia, is protected by Brazilian law and by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
Hard and dense, it is also fashioned into flooring, furniture and other items.
Investigators said the gang exported at least 13 tons of rosewood in the past four years, mainly to the United States.
