Western Cape police have arrested four suspects linked to an abalone haul with a street value of R9 million, police said in a statement on Friday.
South African Police Services spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut, said in the first arrest in Senna Park in Killarney Gardens, two Chinese nationals, aged 31 and 48, were arrested for being in possession of 27,182 dry and 1,551 wet shucked abalone with a street value of about R R6 million.
“Various scales, crates and containers, cardboard boxes and also a forklift were also found on the premises.”
Traut said following that arrest, officers proceeded to a warehouse in Esso Street, Montague Gardens, where they uncovered another illegal abalone facility.
“Numerous crates and 12,266 units of abalone with a value of R3 million were found in a refrigeration room. Two Malawian men, aged 26 and 33, were arrested,” he said.
The suspects are due to make a court appearance in Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday on charges relating to the Living Marine Resources Act, including the illegal possession of abalone.
– African News Agency (ANA)
