KOCHI: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted 13.5 tonnes of red sanders at the Vallarpadam ICTT from a ship which was sailing from Chennai to Sharjah on Tuesday. The container with red sanders was loaded from Kattupalli port of Adani Group in Tamil Nadu.The seized red sanders was of high quality which would cost around Rs 7 crore in the international market. According to DRI officials, the consignment was seized from a container found in the vessel SSL Bharath following a tip-off about the smuggling attempt.
"SSL Bharath was moving containers from Kattupalli port to Sharjah. ICTT Vallarpadam was a transit point of the vessel. Two days ago, we had a secret information that a consignment containing red sanders was loaded onto the ship. Following this, we identified the specific container on Monday night. The container was opened on Tuesday evening and red sanders recovered," a DRI official said.
DRI officials claimed that the consignment was loaded into the container after unscrewing its nuts and bolts. "The container was opened in such a way that its seal did not break. The container might have been opened after it was sealed at the container freight station and before it reached the port. There were several containers placed over the container in which the red sanders was concealed. It was a time-consuming process as all other containers had to be shifted to trace the one having red sanders," the DRI official said.
The container was booked by a Chennai-based company identified as Hallmark Exports.
"The container was booked for exporting nuts and bolts to a Dubai-based company. We are checking the papers submitted to the port. No arrest has been made. We have suspects related to the incident. The information has been provided to the Chennai DRI unit to carry out the further probe," an officer said.SSL Bharath left ICTT Vallarpadam on Tuesday evening. DRI officials said the consignment was destined to reach Hong Kong via Sharjah. Two weeks ago, the DRI had recovered red sanders from the ICTT before it was loaded into the vessel. The DRI has identified a Mumbai-based gang behind it. Two Mangaluru-based persons were arrested in the case.