Red sanders worth Rs 16 crore seized

Sources said that the suspects had stacked the huge quantity of the wood in a godown, belonging to one Kalaiselvam, located at Panruti on Mettupalayam Road. They had planned to smuggle them via port, before which DRI investigators reached the spot and seized the red sanders. 

“First, we intercepted a lorry carrying the logs. Following an inquiry, we went to the godown from where it was loaded and found nearly 40 tonnes of red sanders hidden there. They are high in demand in South East Asian countries,” a DRI official said. A few people fled the scene, leaving behind an SUV near the godown, when the sleuths reached the spot. 

Though the main players linked to the smuggling network were not arrested, the DRI arrested three drivers, identified as Manikandan, Sukumar and Senthil Kumar. Four trucks loaded with the red sanders logs were also seized. 

It may be noted that despite a number of seizures and arrests, Chennai port remains to be one of the major hubs from where smugglers ‘export’ their consignment to East Asian countries like Malaysia, Japan and China. As the enforcement agencies don’t intercept all the containers, some of them stuffed with red sanders could have slipped through in the past, sources said.

DRI sources said that red sanders (Pterocarpus Santalinus) logs are smuggled out of the Andhra Pradesh forests and kept in various godowns in Chennai and Thiruvallur, before moved through Chennai port in containers to South East Asian countries, where these logs are high in demand for their medicinal value and their use in musical instruments. It was Rs 10 crore for a tonne of red sanders in the international market. “Due to the decrease in supply and demand, there might be some price reduction in the international market,” sources added.