New Delhi, Aug 12 (IANS): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said that it has carried out searches at various premises linked to Villayutham, an alleged kingpin of sea cucumber smuggling, in Tamil Nadu's Rameshwaram.

An ED official here said that the agency sleuths carried out searches at the premises of Villayutham on August 9, in a case relating to the serious environmental crime of smuggling sea cucumber, an endangered species, along Sri Lankan maritime border.

He said that the agency had registered a case on the basis of 13 FIRs in wildlife cases filed against Villayutham.

The residential premises of Villayutham, and Hotel Raamajeyam owned by him at Rameshwaram were searched by the ED and led to seizure of large number of sale deeds, cash receipts, cheque books and other incriminating documents.

"Sale deeds papers and other documents seized during the search operation revealed the value of the assets of Villayutham to be around Rs 5 crore," he said.

The official said that known as the 'cleaners of the sea,' sea cucumbers play a vital role in maintaining health of marine ecosystem. Sea cucumbers, also called as Holothurians, are marine endangered species, and an important constituent of the coral ecosystem in the Gulf of Mannar. The product Beche-de-mer derived from processed sea cucumbers is commercially important and considered as a delicacy in China, Japan and Korea. Besides, the sea cucumber is known to have aphrodisiac qualities and the pharmacological properties.

The official said that in 2001, Indian government included all species of sea cucumbers under Schedule-I category of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and totally banned their collection. These animals have also been protected under Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).