Sleuths of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) rescued 70 exotic species of birds and animals from a residential premises in the city and from a farmhouse on its outskirts. One person was detained during the operation.
DRI officials said the crackdown was carried out on a syndicate smuggling exotic birds and animals by its officers in Chennai.
The swoop was a follow-up to the work done by officers in Aizawl, Guwahati, and Kolkata. The sleuths at Aizawl and Kolkata intercepted a consignment of assorted wildlife of foreign origin, consisting of 35 birds of various species, animals and one baby marmoset and one Bengal cat at the Kolkata airport, which was smuggled through the porous Indo-Myanmar border.
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Main accused
The main accused was arrested a few days ago by the DRI unit at Aizawl. During investigation, the smuggler named his customers based out of Mumbai, Pune and Chennai.
Based on his inputs, the DRI, Chennai unit searched two locations — a residential premises in Chennai and a farmhouse on the outskirts. This resulted in the seizure of a scarlet macaw, harlequin macaw, blue gold macaw, various varieties of conure, cockatoos and other species such as squirrel monkey, callithrix monkey and a pair of red iguana.
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All the animals have been handed over to the Aringar Anna Zoological Park.
“A case has been registered under the Foreign Trade (Development Regulation) Act, 1992 and Customs Act,” said a DRI official.