Forest officials and the UP STF arrested four smugglers and recovered Ambergris, a prohibited substance, from their possession, in a joint operation on Tuesday.
“Trade of ambergris is prohibited in India because sperm whales produce Ambergris, and sperm whales, an endangered species, are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1927,” said divisional forest officer, Ravi K Singh, in a press statement on Tuesday.
According to a UP STF press statement, the recovery was over four kilogram Ambergris worth about ₹10 crore in the international market.
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, New Delhi, had given a tip-off about the illegal sale of Ambergris. Arrests took place at two places and Ambergris was also recovered from two places. Firoz Ahmad Kidwai, Danish Akhtar, Avinash Kharwar were arrested from near the Janeshwar Mishra Park while Abhay Kharwar was arrested from Surendra Nagar. The operation was conducted on Sunday night.
Only 1% of sperm whales produce ambergris, which is very precious, said forest officials. “It’s illegally used in making perfumes,” said Singh.
Arvind Kumar Mishra, Vineet Prakash Srivastava, Ankit Shukla, Vinod Chandra Joshi and other officials were part of the forest team.