The Sholavaram police on Monday impounded a lorry and seized one tonne of red sanders during a vehicle check in Thiruvanchiyam village near Sholavaram on Grand North Trunk (GNT) Road.
The seized wood was estimated to be worth around Rs. 5 lakh, police said. The driver, M. Rajendran (43), a native of Thorrur in Andhra Pradesh, was arrested.
Police said that based on a tip, a special team led by Sholavaram inspector (law & crime), D. Balu, checked vehicles coming in from Andhra Pradesh on GNT Road.
Around 12.15 p.m. the police stopped a lorry, and when they removed the tarpaulin sheet spread over its back, they found 16 red sanders logs.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police said the driver, Rajendran, brought the consignment from a godown near Tirupathi, and was heading towards Chennai Port before he was stopped.
Most of the red sanders are sourced from forest areas in Kadapa, Nandyal and Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and transported to Chennai Port to smuggle them to southeast Asian countries, police said. Tiruvallur and Red Hills were generally used to store the consignments temporarily.
