India's Border Security Force (BSF) has recovered a jar holding 2 kg 140 g of snake venom in the Hili police station area of South Dinajpur district in West Bengal. Acting on a tip-off, it seized the venom in a raid on Thursday 24 November in the Kalibari area on the India-Bangladesh border under Hili police station.

According to BSF sources, the jar contained cobra venom with an estimated market value of Rs 17 crore. After the seizure the BSF handed the jar over to the Balurghat forest office.

Smugglers had brought the jar of venom from Bangladesh and hidden it in the Kalibari area. Local residents found out and informed the BSF.

On receiving the information, the BSF's 137th battalion quickly launched an operation and began a thorough search of the Kalibari area. At one point a man being chased by the BSF left a black jar behind a bush and ran away. The glass jar of snake venom, marked "Made in France", was then recovered.

Nikhil Chhetri, deputy ranger at the Balurghat forest office, said samples of the venom handed over by the BSF would be sent through the court for testing.

A BSF official said the jars of snake venom being recovered recently carry the name of France. On 1 September the Digipara border outpost of the 61st battalion recovered snake venom worth Rs 17 crore 24 lakh 45 thousand, and that jar also had "Red Dragon" written on it.

This has led to the belief that France's notorious Red Dragon mafia group is linked to the trade.

Snake venom is a highly valuable ingredient for drug makers around the world, and Bangladesh and India are like a paradise for international venom smuggling rings. The India-Bangladesh border has become one of the main spots for snake venom smuggling.

Venom from Bangladesh's gokhra, kalach and keute snakes, and from India's, especially West Bengal's, gokhra, keute, shakhamuti and chandrabora snakes, is in demand worldwide.

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