India: The authorities have nabbed five people at Daryapur in Amravati for trying to illegally sell a 4.5 kg red sand boa (Eryx johnii).

Called 'Mandul' in Marathi, the near-threatened species is said to have great demand in international and domestic markets due to superstitions over it bringing good luck and its medicinal properties. Snakes with a higher weight command better prices in the grey market, where rates depend on the negotiations between the parties to the sale.

Forest department officials said the demand was driven by blind faith that the non-venomous snake--which has a thick tail giving it the appearance of having two heads--was useful for black magic and locating hidden treasures. It is sought in China and other south-east Asian countries for its supposedly aphrodisiac properties.

M.Maranko, regional deputy director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Western Region, said they had received a tip-off about a sand boa being available for sale.

Five people—Abdul Hanif Abdul Habib, Gawarshah Kadar Shah, Afzal Hussain Ali Niyaz Ali, Taslim Shah Lukman Shah and Shaikh Nasir--were arrested last week and a 4.5kg sand boa was recovered in a joint operation with the wildlife crime cell of the Melghat Tiger Reserve and Amravati police.

"Though the reptile is protected under Schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, it is necessary to enhance this to Schedule I considering the organised smuggling rackets involved," he stressed.

Earlier this month, the Sangli police seized a 2.700 kg sand boa and arrested two Miraj residents. said assistant police inspector Dilip Talpe.

Maranko said they had made a similar seizure from Karjat in January. He added despite reports that the snake had great demand abroad, there was no reported seizure at the airport for years.

A forest official said wildlife smugglers chose the sand boa as "it gave them a higher price and took lesser space to store" with reptiles above 3 feet in length and 3kg in weight commanding a premium. "Sand boa smuggling is more lucrative than that of tiger body parts," he explained.

(Source: The DNA)