Two members of a smuggling ring have been arrested with snake venom worth an estimated Tk 3 crore in a special drive by the Detective Branch (DB) of police in Bogura.

A DB team led by Sub-Inspector Ziaur Rahman carried out the drive in the town's Thanthania and Mondal Para areas on the afternoon of Friday, 5 September, on the instructions of the officer-in-charge of the district DB. SI Ziaur Rahman confirmed the operation on Saturday, 6 September.

The arrested are SMA Ferdous (74), son of the late Abdul Majid of the area, and Ramjan Ali (55), son of the late Azimuddin of Gohail Sutrapur.

Police said SMA Ferdous had been keeping valuable cobra venom, smuggled in illegally from France, and was preparing to sell it.

The venom was recovered in five glass jars inside a large paper carton. Each jar was labelled in English "Red Dragon Company, Made in France". Its value on the international market is estimated at about Tk 3 crore.

During initial questioning, the two said they had for a long time been working together to smuggle in the venom, which is banned from import, from various countries and sell it. A CR case against Ferdous is pending in court. A case has been filed against them under the Special Powers Act at Sadar police station.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.