COIMBATORE: A 48-year-old man was arrested by the Coimbatore forest department for attempting to sell three kg of ambergris on Sunday.

Based on a tip off, officials of the forest department approached the accused, identified as P Elangovan by posing as potential buyers.

“Our team struck up a conversation with Elangovan while he was waiting at a Tasmac bar to sell ambergris to someone. On confirming his possession of the valuable, the officials took him into custody and also seized it,” said an official.

Enquiries with Elangovan revealed that he bought the ambergris from someone in Kerala and was attempting to sell it for a lumpsum amount in Coimbatore.