Busting The Illegal Monitor Lizard Organ Trade | 101 Underground

The brutal secret behind hatha jodi: the 'sacred root' that's supposed to bring its owners good luck and happiness.

101 India got exclusive access to cover a dangerous undercover sting operation against illegal wildlife trading in New Delhi. For a while now, self-proclaimed astrologers have been selling 'Hatha Jodi', a supposedly sacred root that brings health, wealth and happiness to anyone who possesses it. Superstitions say that keeping the hatha jodi in a silver box with some 'sindoor' brings wealth into the home. But the truth is this: there is no root or plant part called Hatha Jodi. It is made from the sex organ of a highly protected endangered species - the monitor lizard.

Together with undercover operatives from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of India, the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department and the Wildlife Trust Of India, 101India went underground in an attempt to catch the individuals involved in the illegal trafficking of animal parts.

Beneath the surface lies the seedy underbelly, the black market that supplies our insatiable appetite for sin. 101 Underground tells stories of sex, sleaze, drugs, crime and violence. From militants to child traffickers in Varanasi, we interview the men and women making a killing outside the mainstream.