Chennai, Dec. 14 -- The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has thwarted an attempt to illegally export restricted/prohibited red sanders valued at Rs 6.26 crore. A total of 15 MTs of red sanders was seized from various warehouses and four persons were arrested in the case, according to an official release from the Ministry of Finance

Red sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus) is an item listed in Appendix II of CITES and in Schedule-IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and prohibited/restricted for exports under Foreign Trade Policy, as per the release.

Specific intelligence was developed by the officers of DRI that red sanders were being clandestinely secreted at various godowns in Chennai and its outskirts and the same are being attem...