Kolkata, Feb 28 : Four kilograms of smuggled snake venom worth Rs 5 crore was seized in North Bengal late on Tuesday night.

Three persons were arrested for smuggling following a joint operation by the West Bengal Forest Department and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, near Siliguri, in the northern sector of West Bengal.

According to Forest Department officials the estimated market value of the seized snake venom is around Rs 5 crore.

The venom was stored in two-specially designed crystal jars that had been made in France.

The three persons arrested with the smuggled snake venom consignment have been identified as Md Shahnawaz (27), Md Azmal (28) and Md Tahid Alam (39), residents of Islampur in North 24 Parganas District.

They will be presented at a lower district court on Wednesday afternoon.

During interrogation the arrested men confessed that the snake venom was supposed to be smuggled to China via Nepal.

Forest Department officials admitted that Siliguri and its adjacent areas are increasingly becoming corridors for snake venom smuggling.

On February 9, the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel seized smuggled snake venom worth Rs 12 crore from Hili Village in South Dinajpur District in the northern sector.

In that case too, the smuggled venom was stored in a specially-designed French-made crystal jar and one person was arrested by the BSF then.

/IANS