Alert DRI foils red sander smuggling via Chengalpattu

The container had around 12 tonnes of red sanders, valued roughly about Rs 4 to 5 crore, sources said.

DRI’s Thursday evening interception was not without drama. When the 10 member DRI team in three hired vehicles intercepted the container, the driver of the vehicle panicked and then informed his handler who informed police and forest officials, fearing that a rival group was trying to hijack the container.

DRI officials had to explain to the forest and police teams that they were from the central agency and that it was not a highway hijack, before driving the container to their T Nagar office for further investigation. The driver and cleaner of the container were being quizzed by the DRI to know more about the smuggling network.

It may be noted that in the last one week the DRI had seized more than 60 tonnes of red sanders across Tamil Nadu and this was the first time the agency had seized red sanders coming from Villupuram side to Chennai. “It looks like the smugglers were trying out a new route to bring the red sanders to stock in a godown situated near Chennai. Till recently, they were entering the city from Thiruvallur side, but now they are going up to Villupuram and then coming to Chennai using the GST Road to avoid strict scrutiny by enforcing agencies,” a forest official remarked.

It may be recalled that the DRI had seized 40 tonnes of red sanders last Friday from a godown near Sriperumbadur