Ambergris worth Rs 2.30 crore seized in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin, one held

Police arrested a man for allegedly possessing ambergris worth over Rs 2.3 crore in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin. The accused has been identified as Kumaran.

Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu):A 38-year-old man was arrested for allegedly possessing ambergris, a whale's saliva used to make perfumes and fragrances worth over Rs 2.3 crore in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin, an official said. The accused has been identified as Kumaran, a resident of Pudumanai Pallivasal Street.

According to police, Kulasekharapatnam Sub-Inspector Rajan led the police patrolling in the Ebengudi market area on Sunday and conducted a thorough search. Noticing the weird behavior of the accused, the police interrogated him. The police then found the ambergris from the accused. Subsequently, the police confiscated the ambergris from him and handed it over to the Tiruchendur Forest Officer. Following the instruction of Tuticorin Forest Officer Abhishek Tomar, Tiruchendur Forest Officer Kanimozhi Arasu arrested Kumaran.

The forest department officials said, "The total weight of ambergris seized from Kumaran is 2.560 kg and its international value is Rs 2.30 crore. Last year, in October and December, 16 kg of ambergris was seized in this area. Now, ambergris has been confiscated for the third time."

Meanwhile, over 100 kg of marijuana worth Rs 1 crore was seized in Karnataka's Bidar district. The transportation of ganja was carried in a Tata Sumo. The accused was transporting the drug from Zaheerabad in Telangana to Maharashtra. Ganja, four mobiles and a Tata Sumo vehicle worth Rs 3 lakhs were seized from the accused.