On the afternoon of 8 May 2019, members from Cape Town K9 Unit were conducting election patrols in Glucose Road, Bellville South, when they noticed a Ford Ranger LDV reversing from a warehouse of which the driver appeared suspicious.
At about 15:15 they approached and searched the vehicle upon which they recovered 16 sealed boxes of dried abalone.
The members then searched the warehouse and uncovered an illegal abalone processing facility. Various items of equipment, amongst other, a large steel cooking pot, gas cylinders, piping and burners, scales, fans, heaters, drying shelves and also bags of salt, were seized.
The weight of the abalone was estimated at 348 kilograms worth value of R2 million.
A male suspect, aged 25, was arrested on charges under the Living Marine Resources Act and will appear in Bellville Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 10 May 2019.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
