• DRI seizes 12.87 tonnes of red sanders worth ₹7.72 crore.
• Protected wood intercepted at Chennai Port before vessel loading.
• Three alleged members of the smuggling syndicate arrested.
• Container was falsely declared to contain paper laminate rolls.

GG News Bureau
Chennai, 13th Nov: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted a red sanders smuggling syndicate at Chennai Port, seizing 12.87 metric tonnes of the protected wood valued at approximately ₹7.72 crore and arresting three people.

Acting on specific intelligence about an attempt to smuggle red sanders logs to Malaysia, DRI officers intercepted an export container between November 9 and 11, before it could be loaded onto a vessel.

The container had been declared to contain paper laminate rolls. However, a detailed examination conducted on November 9 and 10 revealed high-grade red sanders logs concealed alongside a small quantity of the declared cargo and gravel stones. The wood and cover cargo were seized under the Customs Act, 1962.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the syndicate allegedly misused the self-sealing facility available to a manufacturer-exporter. The group arranged an export consignment through the exporter, diverted the container to a private godown and replaced the declared paper laminate rolls with red sanders logs before dispatching it for export.

A subsequent search of the godown led to the recovery of the original paper laminate rolls, an industrial weighing scale and traces of red sanders, providing further evidence of the alleged operation.

Three key members of the syndicate have been arrested under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

Red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) is a protected species listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Its export from India is prohibited under the Foreign Trade Policy.

The operation has exposed the alleged misuse of legitimate export channels and trade facilitation measures for organised wildlife trafficking. The DRI said it remains committed to dismantling smuggling networks and protecting India’s biodiversity through intelligence-led enforcement.