You have to have a license to possess alcohol with intent sell in the state of Texas, especially if each bottle contains a rattlesnake.
Looking for a way to make some bucks, rattlesnake rancher Bayou Bob Popplewell stuck a rattlesnake inside bottles of vodka and marketed them as an "ancient Asian elixir." He spent about 10 minutes Monday in jail after the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission obtained arrest warrants on misdemeanor charges of selling alcohol without a license and possessing alcohol with intent to sell.
Popplewell, 63, said he will fight the charges. His intent, he said, is not to sell an alcoholic beverage but a healing tonic. He said he has customers of Asian descent who believe the concoction has medicinal properties.
"It's almost a spiritual thing," said Popplewell.
But alcohol commission agent Scott Jones pointed out that investigators confiscated 429 bottles of snake vodka and one bottle of snake tequila. At 23 U.S. dollars a bottle, that's almost 10,000 dollars worth of reptilian booze.
Even if Popplewell intended his drink be used as a healing tonic — an assertion the alcohol commission disputes — his use of vodka requires a state permit, authorities said.
"It's sold for beverage purposes, and he knows what he's doing," commission Sgt. Charlie Cloud said.
Popplewell said he uses the cheapest vodka he can find as a preservative for the snakes. The end result is a super-sweet mixed drink that Popplewell compared to cough syrup.
"I've honestly never seen a person drink it," he said.
Source:Xinhua
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