Snake venom in condoms; 2 held

Jan 28, 2012 |

Kochi

Tags:

crime

Snake venom worth more than Rs 5 crore and concealed in condoms was seized by the Customs at the Nedumbassery airport here on Thursday.

A citizen of Ecuador and his close aide were arrested for the bid to smuggle out the venom that could be used as drug, the Customs said.

The accused was identified as Solano Rais Jimmi Vincent of Ecuador. Around 500 gm of the venom was kept in condoms in his baggage.

He was to board a flight to Chennai when the baggage screening department noticed the material. On questioning Solano, he feigned ignorance but later said the baggage belonged to his friend Ostin Odiyasse, Nigerian, who was expected to board the same flight. He said he was offered money by his friend to carry the baggage.

On inspection, it was found that Ostin had not boarded the flight despite his name being displayed on the boarding list.

The visuals on the closed circuit TV had images of Ostin fleeing the scene after leaving his luggage at the airport lounge.

Information and images of Ostin were passed on to the Chennai police who succeeded in nabbing him at the railway station there on Friday.

While Solano was handed over to the local police, efforts were on to bring Ostin here, airport and police officials said.

More persons are believed to be connected with the racket, including a few locals in the supply chain, and the police are on the lookout.

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