Seven persons have been arrested and half-a-litre of snake venom, valued at over Rs1 crore in the market, has been seized from them at Chalakudy.

Four persons were arrested yesterday and three this morning from Chalakudy, District Forest Officer Georgi Mathachan said. He added that the venom was extracted from a King Cobra.

Snake venom is of immense medicinal use, and is extremely valuable, with 30ml of cobra venom valued at around Rs7.5 lakh internationally.