Red sanders worth Rs 2.2 crore seized, 2 held

CHENNAI: In a huge haul, sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence intercepted 22,000 kg of red sanders worth Rs 2.2 crore, which was being smuggled to Indonesia, inside the Chennai Port on Sunday. Two persons were arrested in this connection, while search is on for three others, including the kingpin. Interrogation of the arrested men revealed the modus operandi they adopted in pulling the wool over the eyes of customs officials while smuggling the wood, which is banned for export and listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora. Based on a tip-off, the DRI operation began with the interception of a container at the CITPC terminal inside the port on Sunday. “The container was all set to be loaded in a ship ‘Callao Bridge’ bound for China via Indonesia,” ADGP C Rajan, Director, DRI, told Express. “The consignment was addressed to DWI Jafa, Sumatra, Indonesia,” he said.Perusing the export documents, the sleuths found that the consignment consisted 435 kg of ragi for Indonesia, with the sender’s address given as AI Enterprises, Thirunallar, Karaikal. On conducting a preliminary check, the team found no trace of the cereal, but only logs inside the container. Growing suspicious, the sleuths transferred the container to another place for thorough search. “Instead of ragi, we found 21,750 kg of red sanders worth Rs 2.2 crore in the international market,” the ADGP said. The DRI picked up a duo who came with the lorry: B Ravi (47) of Sastri Nagar, Adyar, who arranged the vehicle, and driver P Mohanarangam (31) of Uthiramerur, Kancheepuram. The smuggling operation began with the lorry carrying the genuine consignment - ragi - arriving at the container freight station near Thiruvottiyur. Besides Ravi and Mohanarangam, two other men were in the vehicle. At the freight station, the cargo was checked, cleared and sealed and ready to be taken to the harbour. But, instead of making their way to the port, the duo asked the driver to take a detour to the outskirts of the city. “They gave two bottles of liquor to the driver and asked him to stay put and vanished with the lorry,” the officer said.After about six hours, the lorry came back and the men instructed the driver to take it to the port, where the customs officials checked the papers, the container seal and cleared it for loading in the ship. Grilled by the DRI team about when and how the switch over took place, Ravi said that after dropping the driver, they took the vehicle to a yard on the city outskirts. There they removed the front door of the container and replaced the ragi bags with the red sander logs and refixed the door. “Hence, the customs officers found no evidence of tampering on the seal,” the DRI chief said. Recalling a similar operation, Rajan said six tonnes of red sanders, worth Rs 60 lakh, were seized at Ludhiana, Punjab two months ago. At the container depot, the smugglers declared that the cargo consisted of electrical insulators to be taken to Mumbai port for export to Malaysia. When a DRI team conducted a check, they found only the front portion of the container filled with electrical insulators. “The rear contained six tons of red sanders,” he said. Arresting the two men under the Customs Act, the DRI has launched a search for three others, including the mastermind. Besides the cargo, the lorry was also seized.