DRI seizes 16.5 kg pangolin scales, busts inter-state wildlife trafficking syndicate

The operation was conducted by teams from the Mumbai and Nagpur units at Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh on Sunday based on tip offs. The accused were allegedly planning to trade the scales when the DRI team intercepted them, said DRI officials

Mumbai: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Mumbai zonal unit has dismantled an inter-state illegal wildlife trafficking syndicate involved in the illegal trade of Indian pangolin scales, seizing 16.52 kg of scales and detaining three accused.

DRI seizes 16.5 kg pangolin scales, busts inter-state wildlife trafficking syndicate.

The operation was conducted by teams from the Mumbai and Nagpur units at Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh on Sunday based on tip offs. The accused were allegedly planning to trade the scales when the DRI team intercepted them, said DRI officials.

The Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which gives it the highest degree of legal protection. Referred to as scaly anteater, the Indian pangolin is native to the Indian subcontinent and has large, overlapping scales on its body which act as armour. Trading it or its parts is strictly prohibited.

Officials said pangolins are illegally hunted for their meat and scales, which are falsely believed to possess medicinal properties in certain traditional medicine markets. The pangolin’s parts are also used in some luxury products. A persistent international demand has fuelled organised poaching and trafficking syndicates, making pangolins “the most trafficked mammals worldwide,” said DRI officials.

The DRI’s Mumbai zonal unit, including the Nagpur unit, has dismantled multiple illicit wildlife trafficking networks since 2025, including a syndicate operating from Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh (MP), allegedly involved in the trafficking of leopard skins, a network operating in Seoni, MP, allegedly involved in the killing of a tiger cub and attempting to illegally trade its body parts. The agency also busted a syndicate operating in Bhopal, MP, allegedly involved in trafficking of Leopard skins and a syndicate operating from Pileru, Andhra Pradesh involved allegedly in trafficking of Pangolin scales.

These sustained enforcement actions underscore the DRI’s continued vigilance, commitment to wildlife protection and unwavering resolve in combating organised environmental crime, said officials. “Through close coordination with state forest departments across multiple states and other enforcement agencies, the DRI continues to dismantle national and international trafficking networks through precise, intelligence-driven operations under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,” a DRI official said.