DRI arrests 4 persons, foils bid to export Rs 6.26 crore red sanders

New Delhi, Dec 14 Four smugglers were arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in an operation thwarting an attempt to illegally export restricted/prohibited red sanders valued at Rs 6.26 crore from Chennai, an official said on Sunday.

A total of 15 MTs of red sanders was seized from various warehouses in Chennai, the official said in a statement.

The four arrested persons include the key operative, his two associates involved in packing and transportation of red sanders, and a supplier-side intermediary.

Red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) is an item listed in Appendix II of CITES and in Schedule-IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and prohibited/restricted for exports under Foreign Trade Policy, said the statement.

Specific intelligence was developed by the officers of DRI that red sanders were being clandestinely secreted at various godowns in Chennai and its outskirts, and the same are being attempted for export from Chennai via Delhi.

Accordingly, DRI officers carried out coordinated systematic searches at three premises from December 9 to 11 and seized 169 red sanders logs of Grade A quality weighing 5.55 MT.

Out of these logs, 76 logs were wrapped and concealed using white HDPE packing material and ready to be loaded onto a truck for transporting to Delhi for illicit export, with the cover cargo of “Household articles” being recovered from one premises, said a DRI statement.

The offending goods, as well as the cover goods meant for illicit export, were seized under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962. In the other two premises, 9.55MTs of red sanders in the form of logs, roots and furniture were recovered and seized, it said.

Last week, the DRI dismantled a clandestine Mephedrone manufacturing facility in Wardha, Maharashtra, during a targeted operation codenamed “Operation Hinterland Brew.”

The operation executed on December 7-8 led to the seizure of 128 kg of Mephedrone, valued at approximately Rs 192 crore, along with 245 kg of precursor chemicals, raw material, and a complete processing setup, said a statement.

Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officers carried out discreet surveillance followed by a search operation in a remote, shrub-covered area of Karanja (Ghadge), nearly 60 km from Wardha.

Three persons operating the facility, including the mastermind, who also acted as the financier and chemist, along with his two associates, were apprehended.

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