'Tk 45cr venom' seized in city; one arrested

Detectives seized around 5.5kg (12 pounds) of "snake venom worth Tk 45 crore" and arrested one in this connection in the capital's Dhanmondi on Tuesday night.

The venom was illegally brought into the country mainly to sell it to different pharmaceutical companies, which use it for producing medicine, said Abdul Baten, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch of police, at a press briefing at Dhaka Metropolitan Police media centre yesterday.

Calculating the price given on glass jars in US dollar, the police official said the value of the venom would be Tk 45 crore. "We will send this liquid to a laboratory to check whether this is actually snake venom."

The arrestee is Solaiman Azad, 61, a resident of Dhanmondi.

Acting on a tip-off, the Narcotics Defence Unit of DB (East) raided a house in Dhanmondi around 8:00pm and seized the venom kept in six glass jars from the possession of Solaiman, said Baten.

Solaiman, who was a garment trader before, had been involved in this illegal business to make a quick buck, the police official said. 

During primary interrogation, Solaiman said the venom was collected from France and brought to the country through India illegally. He was looking for some local brokers to sell the venom. 

Baten said they got some information that international and local syndicates were behind the illegal venom business. They were trying to bust the rackets.

Md Asaduzzaman, additional deputy commissioner of the DB, who conducted the drive, told The Daily Star that they were suspecting many people were involved in this trade.

A case was filed with Dhanmondi Model Police Station.