File
Two perlemoen poachers, one of whom is already serving jail time, have been sentenced in the Cape Town Regional Court for a string of charges that include the contravention of the Marine Living Resources Act.
Western Cape police said 45-year-old Denver Langehoven 48-year-old Solomon Sauls were sentenced on Wednesday.
“Langehoven was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment on POCA (Prevention of Organised Crime Act), ten years on 385 counts of contravention of the Marine Living Resources Act and three years for fraud,” said SAPS spokesperson Zinzi Hani.
She said Sauls, who was already serving jail time on an unrelated poaching matter, would effectively serve 14 years imprisonment as the sentences have been ordered to run concurrently.
Hani said Sauls was sentenced to seven years for contravening POCA and two years on six counts of contravening the Marine Living Resources Act.
“Sauls is currently serving 14 years jail sentence on a Riviersonderend matter that was also investigated by the Hawks. The three years of the sentence will run concurrently with the 14 years jail sentence he is currently serving,” she said.
Hani said initially 11 suspects were arrested, but one has since died. She said warrants of arrest were issued for the others.
“One suspect entered into a plea agreement and three were given suspended sentences, whilst one other was found guilty and sentenced to 2 years direct imprisonment,” she added.
Hani said the suspects were arrested by members of the Serious Organised Crime Investigation team together with officials from the Department of Environmental Fisheries and Forestry, on a joint operation that dates back to 2006.
