Red sander smuggler falls into DRI net

CHENNAI: Officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in the city nabbed a notorious red sander smuggler at the Chennai airport on Saturday before he allegedly boarded a flight to escape. DRI officials who were in search of the smuggler in connection with a case in Delhi, have sent him to Delhi for further inquiry; officials said.DRI officials said they nabbed A T Maidheen (46) of Nagercoil, who has been smuggling red sander out of the country for several years. Officials added that Maidheen was about to board a flight to Pune from where he had plans to escape abroad when they nabbed him after receiving a tip off.The hunt for the notorious smuggler intensified after DRI sleuths in Delhi raided two godowns in South Delhi, a few days back and seized 250 tonnes of red sanders and sandalwood worth `25 crores, officials said. They reportedly nabbed one person in-charge of the godown in Delhi. Three days back,  Chellathambi, who is based in Chennai, was caught in Delhi after DRI officials here alerted their department officials in Delhi, DRI sleuths said.Following the arrest, DRI officials here began to hunt for Mahideen. On receiving intelligence inputs, they searched places in and around Egmore, but later found that he was going to flee. This led to his nabbing at the Chennai airport.“He had been smuggling red sander for many years. He earlier used to bring it from Andhra Pradesh, Tam il Nadu and Karnataka and stock them in godowns in Chennai before smuggling it to China, Dubai and Malaysia through the Chennai or Tuticorin port. After Directorate of Revenue Intelligenceofficials came down stringently on smuggling, smugglers have shifted their godowns to places like Delhi.If a tonne of red sanders costs `10 lakhs here, it could fetch up to `35 lakhs or more in China. It is expensive because it is an endangered species,” said C Rajan, Additional Director General, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.