A special team of the Roshanai police on Wednesday night arrested five persons for possessing and trading ambergis (whale vomit) at Tindivanam.
Around 15 kg of the substance was seized from Mohanarangan, 62, Sathyamoorthy, 34, Chandrasekhar, 33, Murugan, 32 and Lakshmipathi, 33.
Following a tip-off, a team was conducting patrol on Hospital Road in Tindivanam when they found five persons carrying a travel bag coming out of a house. The team checked the occupants and interrogated them.
The men told the police that they were searching for potential buyers to sell 15 kg of ambergris, worth several crores in the international market. The team produced them before a local court and remanded them in custody. The police also alerted the Villupuram Forest Department over the seizure.
A Forest Department official said the solid, waxy substance from the intestine of the sperm whale commands exorbitant rates. It is usually found floating in the sea. It is extensively used in the perfume industry and has high demand in the international market.
“We will be sending the samples to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad to ascertain if the waxy substance was secreted by sperm whales,” he said.
