THOOTHUKUDI: Banned Chinese firecrackers, worth about Rs 5 crore, concealed in a container that arrived in a cargo vessel at the Thoothukudi port was seized by authorities and four men have been arrested in this connection, police said on Sunday.

When the container arrived from China, the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, based on suspicion, asked the staff to open the container to verify if the goods that had arrived matched with the description shown in the invoice of consignment.

While the invoice of the consignment listed engineering goods, beneath aluminium sheets and silicon paste, officials found banned Chinese firecrackers and estimated its value to be approximately Rs 5 crore.

Based on investigation, they arrested Thoothukudi Thraespuram-based Michael Jacob Jeyasekaran and Soosai Manickam Jayendran, and two Mumbai-based men, said to be entrepreneurs.

All the four accused were produced before a local court which remanded them in judicial custody. Later, they were lodged at the Palayamkottai central prison in nearby Tirunelveli.

Police said authorities are on the look out for one more person, based in Mumbai, in connection with the smuggling of Chinese firecrackers.