Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has recovered snake venom in an operation in Chirirbandar, Dinajpur, with a total seizure value of about Tk 38,57,03,800. Four people have been arrested.

The information came in a BGB press release sent at about 8pm on Friday, 21 August.

BGB said that at about 1.30pm on 13 August, acting on a tip-off, a joint team made up of the Dinajpur Battalion (42 BGB), the BGB Dinajpur camp, RAB-13 and an executive magistrate carried out a raid in the Ambari area of Chirirbandar upazila and arrested four people.

About 5kg 700g of snake venom in three glass jars was recovered from them. A private car, two motorcycles, four mobile phones and six SIM cards were also seized.

The arrested are Md Jahangir Alam, 43, of Damur village in Chirirbandar upazila; Md Salauddin Sanju, 41, of Chhoto Gurgola neighbourhood in Dinajpur town; Md Anisur Rahman, 55, of Khetdighi village in Phulbari upazila; and Ujjal Ali, 54, of Kundanhat village in Birampur upazila.

BGB claims that during initial questioning the arrested said they were members of an organised international smuggling ring, and that they had smuggled snake venom to a neighbouring country on various occasions before. The recovered venom was also being moved for smuggling abroad, BGB said.

BGB said the total seizure value of the venom, vehicles and other goods was Tk 38,57,03,800.

A case was filed against the four and they were handed over to Chirirbandar police station in Dinajpur. Police produced them in court and the judge sent them to jail.

On the court's instruction, the recovered sample was chemically tested on 19 August at a laboratory of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University, which identified it as snake venom, BGB said.

Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah Al Moin Hasan, commander of the Dinajpur Battalion (42 BGB), confirmed the recovery and said the information was released late because the case was filed only after the tests confirmed the substance.

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