A Chinese national was held at the Chennai international airport for attempting to fly out with 20 kg of red sanders.
Zluieie’s (43) was apprehended as he checked in to fly to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysian Airlines flight MH 181. Customs officials were conducting a standard check on his luggage Thursday morning, when they noticed that the wood was stacked inside his black suitcase. When questioned, Zluieie said that he had purchased it from a lumberjack’s warehouse near Gummidipoondi, a few days ago. Customs officials clarified that he did not have a sufficient bill of purchase to stake that claim. Sources also said that Zluieie insisted that he wasn’t doing anything illegal in trying to take the wood to China.
The wood was authenticated by officers from the forest department and taken away with them. Valued at a little over Rs 35 lakh, the wood is extremely sought after in China and can be sold for almost thrice the price in the international market.
This is the second such instance of a Chinese national attempting to take red sanders through the Chennai airport in the past two weeks. Last time, the passenger was fined and allowed to leave, while this time, the passenger has been detained pending investigation.
Over the past five years, a number of people have been collared attempting to smuggle red sanders to oriental destinations.
Listed as an endangered species, red sanders is native to forest belts in Andhra Pradesh and Southern Karnataka.
