Two Chinese abalone smugglers have been sentenced to an effective two years behind bars.
They were handed a sentence of five years imprisonment, of which three were suspended for five years. The Khayelitsha Priority Court also fined them R1 million each.
Western Cape police spokesperson Lieutenant Andre Traut said in a statement on Tuesday that the men, aged 31 and 48-years-old, were found guilty of seven counts of contravening the Marine Living Resources Act.
Traut said an investigation in February had led officers to a warehouse in Senna Park, Killarney Gardens, where the two Chinese men were arrested for being in possession of abalone worth R9million.
He said police welcomed the sentences. “We will stop at nothing to break the back of abalone smuggling in this province”.
– African News Agency (ANA)
