Chennai: Sleuths from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence seized 10 tonnes of red sanders worth Rs 12 crore from a private godown in Thoothukudi.

Based on an information about a suspicious parcel of steel pipes destined for a Malaysian port from Tiruppur, DRI sleuths opened the wooden boxes on Thursday and found that each box was divided into two parts with the steel pipes on the upper part, while thin red sander logs rolled in black polythene covers below, sources said.

Each of the nine boxes contained red sanders logs covered with black tape. The seized contraband is worth Rs 12 crore, sources added.

After seizing the red sanders, weighing about 10 tonnes, the DRI officials confiscated the shipping documents that claimed the shipment of ‘iron pipes’ by a Tiruppur-based company to Malaysia.