Tamil Nadu - Tirunelveli   

Goods worth Rs. 15 crore seized at harbour

Photo : N. Rajesh

RICH HAUL: C.Rajan, Additional Director General, DRI, inspecting seized goods in Tuticorin on

TIRUNELVELI: Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence have seized 11 tonnes of red sanders logs and soaps, electronic goods, ladies garments, soaps and deodorants, worth Rs. 13.85 crore, from three containers at VOC Tuticorin Port on Wednesday.

According to C. Rajan, Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, on the basis of information that red sanders (wooden logs), an item prohibited for export, were about to be exported under the guise of garments, officers of DRI intercepted one container on March 30 at PSA SICAL Terminal, New Port, Tuticorin.

As per documents, goods in the container were ‘Cent per cent cotton knitted men's vest' belonging to two exporters M/s. Sree Ragav Exports, Pachampalayam, Erode, and M/s. Excel Kings Exports, Anthiyur, Erode. The consignee's name mentioned was M/s. ML SPA Marketing S.R.C, Itlay and the destination country as Sharjah, U.A.E.

The container was moved to St. John ICD, Tuticorin and on April 1 and detailed examination was carried out. On opening, the entire container was found stuffed with logs and there were no cartons containing garments as declared in the documents. The forest official, who was present during the examination, certified that the wooden logs stuffed inside the container are ‘red sanders logs.' The total weight of the red sanders logs was found to be 11.4 tonnes, valued at Rs. 1.14 crore. As the red sanders logs were not covered by proper documents and the same was attempted to be smuggled out of India by wrong declaration, the officers seized them under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962.

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence is on the lookout for the persons behind this smuggling, who are at large.

Red sanders are found only in the forest area of Cuddapah, Chittor and Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh. Under the Foreign Trade Policy, export of red sanders logs is prohibited. Red sanders is covered under CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species). These logs are in great demand in China and Japan for making furniture and musical instruments.

In another case, the officials seized ladies garments, pen drives, card readers, card adopters, MP3 chargers etc., worth Rs. 12 crore, from a container for which no claim was made.

In the third case, DRI officials seized soaps and deodorants, worth Rs. 1.85 crore, from a container not cleared for more than two months.

“As these goods were not covered by proper documents and nobody came forward to claim them, the officers seized them under the provisions of Customs Act 1962 read with the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Rules and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act 1940,” said Mr. Rajan.

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