CHENNAI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized about 40 tonnes of red sander logs worth `16 crore here on Saturday and arrested three persons in this connection.
According to a statement from the DRI, the officers were monitoring Orgadam area on a suspicion that a large number of godowns in the area were being used to hide smuggled red sander logs. On Saturday, they spotted a truck and upon checking it, they found a large quantity of red sanders inside.
The men in the truck showed officers the godown from where they were taking the contraband.
An Innova car was also found moving in the area suspiciously and when it was stopped, it was found that the car was also carrying red sander wooden logs.
The statement said a total of 40 tonne of red sander logs were seized and their total value was `16 crore. It is suspected that the smugglers were planning to transport the wooden logs via the Chennai port.