Vizag: 1125 endangered tortoises species seized, 3 arrested

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 1125 Indian Star tortoises from Vizag railway station and arrested three people who were illegally transporting the tortoises.

The DRI officials handed over the seized tortoises which were meant to be smuggled out of the country, to the Forest Range Officer, Vizag for safe custody.

On Saturday, the DRI received special intelligence that the endangered species were being illegally smuggled, following which they held the three accused who were transporting the tortoises from Vijayawada to Howrah.

The three arrested passengers admitted that the tortoises, found in their possession were collected by someone near Madanapalli, Andhra Pradesh and, who asked them to take it to Howrah and then hand it over to someone to export them to Bangladesh.

The Indian Star Tortoises are protected under 'CITES' - Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and are prohibited for export under Foreign Trade Policy and the same are liable for confiscation under Customs Act,1962.

842 kgs of cannabis seized by the DRI

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In another incident, the DRI seized 842 kilograms of cannabis (Ganja) in Vijayawada and arrested two people in connection with the same.

The cannabis worth Rs 1, 26, 40,800 were recovered in Enikepadu area of Vijayawada. The drug was loaded into the vehicle at Narsipatnam and was destined to Ahmednagar of Maharashtra.