A team of the Kurseong forest division recovered an illegal consignment of cobra venom and arrested a person from Ghoshpukur, on the outskirts of Siliguri, in this connection on Sunday afternoon.

The estimated cost of the venom, smuggled from France to India via Bangladesh, is around Rs 30 crore. The item was supposed to be smuggled into China via Nepal.

The team, led by range officer of Ghoshpukur forest range Sonam Bhutia, intercepted Sarafat, a resident of Chopra of neighbouring North Dinajpur district when he was on NH27 on a motorcycle.

“Our men stopped him near Mahananda bridge at 1pm. As they searched him and the two-wheeler, they found the snake venom in a sealed glass container. During preliminary investigation, it was revealed that the venom was smuggled from Bangladesh into India at a place near Dalkhola (also in North Dinajpur). From there, this person was carrying it to Siliguri,” said a forest officer.

The container, sources said, weighed over 2.5 kilo.

Sources said that snake venom is used in drugs for treatment of a number of diseases, including thrombosis, cancer and hypertension.

“Earlier, there were similar seizures of venom by other law enforcing agencies near the India-Bangladesh border. But in recent years, this is the first time in Siliguri sub-division that a person has been nabbed with such a large amount of venom,” said a source in the forest department.

Sarafat, sources said, will be produced at a local court in Siliguri on Monday.