Chennai: As many as 40 metric tonnes (MT) of red sanders logs worth RS 16 crore supposed to be smuggled to Malaysia through containers were seized after the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials swung into surprise raids at the Chennai port on late Thursday night.
According to DRI officials, the red sander logs were to be smuggled in four different consignments destined for Malaysia. “The red sanders were substituted for goods declared as garments and floor mats and cleared for export after the containers left the freight station. The gang involved had substituted the goods before loading onto the ships by tampering the container seal latches and door hinges,” a DRI official said.
Officials received specific inputs about red sanders smuggling in container ships bound to Port Klang in Malaysia. One of the containers was identified in the terminal inside the port and search inside lead to about 2 metric tons of red sanders logs worth Rs 5 crore. Two more containers were found to have their goods substituted with red sanders logs instead of the declared cargo. About Rs 11 crore worth logs weighing approximately 27 MT was recovered from the two containers, according to sources.
DRI officials even unloaded a container from an already loaded ship and seized 9 MT of red sander logs worth Rs 3.6 crore. Investigation is underway to identify and arrest the persons involved in the attempted smuggling. According to an official statement, DRI’s Chennai zonal unit has seized 176 MTs of red sanders worth Rs 71 crore in the last three years.
