Chennai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted an alleged red sanders smuggling racket at Chennai Port, seizing 12.87 tonnes of the protected wood valued at Rs 7.72 crore and arresting three people.
Acting on specific intelligence about an attempt to smuggle the logs to Malaysia, DRI officers intercepted an export container between November 9 and 11, before it could be loaded onto a vessel.
The container, declared to contain paper laminate rolls, was found carrying high-grade red sanders logs concealed with gravel stones and a small quantity of the declared cargo.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the syndicate had diverted the container to a private godown, where the paper laminate rolls were replaced with red sanders. A subsequent search of the premises led to the recovery of the original cargo, an industrial weighing scale and traces of the protected wood.
Three key members of the syndicate have been arrested under the Customs Act, 1962.
Red sanders is protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act and listed in Appendix II of CITES. Its export from India is prohibited under the Foreign Trade Policy.
The seizure highlights the alleged misuse of legitimate export channels by organised wildlife smuggling networks, the DRI said.
