Hiss and Tell: Snake venom is the latest Goa party drug

 Snake breeders have bought pineapple and banana plantations in Dodamarg as fronts for breeding snakes  

 Venom extracted mainly from cobras, russell vipers and kraits 

 Pharma companies too use venom for life saving drugs but forest officials and police confirm rampant criminal misuse 

 Jaggery mixed with venom to prevent detection

VIBHA VERMA

vibha@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: The seizure of snake venom in Valpoi and third-time arrest of Mohammed Sheikh has led the police to suspect that a syndicate dealing in snake poison is operating in Goa.

Reliable police sources indicated that the reason could possibly be due to increasing demand from drug addicts to consume venom as a drug at parties.

Herald's investigations have revealed that highly secretive syndicates span the Goa-Maharashtra-Karnataka border and forest regions of Bicholim, Valpoi-Thane road and Dodamarg. Snake breeders, who are involved in narcotics trade, have acquired large acres of land for growing pineapple and banana plantations as venomous snakes are commonly found here. 

“Drug lords have purchased land for growing pineapples and bananas but its mere eye-wash. The farm is essentially to invite breeding of venomous snakes whose venom is extracted to smuggle among drugs addicts at various destinations,” the source disclosed. 

As per information with Herald, people of Kerala origin grow cannabis on the hilly areas of Tillari-Kendre (Goa-Maharashtra border), head the illicit business while Goans and migrants are hired as carriers. “The smugglers are in contact with the drug addicts across the three States who are known to try snake venom to get a new high”, the officer disclosed. 

A wildlife activist revealed that the breeders prefer venom extracted from king cobras, spectacled cobras, russell vipers, saw-scaled viper, and common krait, which are classified as highly endangered species under the Wildlife Act. 

“Their poison is usually used by a few pharmaceutical companies to produce life-saving drugs and antidotes to snake bites. But its misuse is certain, considering the lucrative trade. The breeders specialize in extracting venom. They don’t kill snakes, instead they take utmost care of the reptiles as pets, he said. 

In Crime Branch custody for three more days, Sheikh’s revelation would be crucial as he was earlier arrested by Goa police in August 2012. His counterparts in Pune in were also arrested in February 2014. The two cases also highlight the police inefficiency in crackdown on the syndicates involved in the illicit trade, and their failure to confirm the purity of the seized liquid. 

The purity of the 1000ml seized poison is being doubted, pending lab test at Wildlife Institute of Indian in Dehradun, Wildlife expert Amrut Singh disclosed that smugglers use large amount of jaggery syrup to mix with a few drops of pure venom, which often goes undetected by the law enforcing agencies. The syndicates running this business along the borders probably engage in this activity. 

“Police arrest the sellers but what about the buyers? One arrest is not enough and this man (Sheikh) has been arrested before. Yet the illegal activity thrives”, Singh argued.