120 kg dried sea cucumber seized, two arrested

CHENNAI: Two persons, who acted as couriers (Kuruvi) and attempted to smuggle 122 kg of endangered species of dried sea cucumber, were arrested at the airport and the consignment seized on Monday. Customs officials said they intercepted three passengers Sikkander Hameed, Mohammad Sirajudheen and Ibrahim Mohamed Rafeek on suspicion before they were about to board a flight to Colombo on the way to Singapore, at Anna International Airport on Sunday evening. When their six bags were checked, officials found they were carrying dried sea cucumber, an endangered species, weighing 122 kilos. They were apprehended and handed over to the wildlife department. Forest officials said sea cucumbers (holothurians) were protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972-offences under which invoke the highest penalties of three to seven years in prison. Forest officials also alleged that one of the three couriers Ibrahim Mohamed Rafeek escaped from the airport, while the other two were held.The couriersOfficials said the couriers were to carry the cucumber consignment to Singapore, via Colombo, which has an open port. In the south-east Asian country, it is used as a medicine to treat nervous conditions and is eaten in the form of soups. “They were to carry the contraband at a rate of `500 a kg. When they returned, they would bring foreign liquor or other items to sell in Burma Bazaar. They (such couriers) undertake at least four to five trips in a month to make money,” said S Davidraj, Forest Range Officer, Velachery.On of the couriers caught on Monday, Hameed, is a native of Keelakarai, Ramanathapuram district, while two of them Sirajudheen and Rafeek are from Mannadi and Pudupet in the city, officials said. Sirajudheen had told forest officials that he had been operating as a courier for one-and-a-half months, after failing to make profits selling biriyani at a stall, whereas Sikkander is a more experienced, having been at shuttling the contraband for the past one year. “They (the three couriers) said they would usually transport only garments, but this time they were told there was dried fish too as part of the baggage. They claimed they did not know the agent and that Rafeek, who went absconding, knew everything. We are, however, investigating.