Trio bust for illegal possession of R2.8m worth of abalone
Image: Hawks
Three suspects have been arrested for illegal possession and processing of abalone in Cape Town.
Hawks spokesperson Zinzi Hani said the arrests came after Cape Town sea border police and law enforcement conducted a search and seizure operation in Heath Road, Mowbray.
They were following up on a tip-off that the premises were being used as an abalone storage and processing facility.
She said 1,114 units of wet and 2,800 units of semi-cooked abalone with a total weight of 410kg, and 3,205 units of dried abalone with a total weight of 421kg, as well as processing equipment with an estimated total value of R2.8m, were recovered.
“Three cellphones, a digital video recorder and documents were seized,” Hani said.
The suspects, aged between 26 and 57, are to appear in the Wynberg magistrate’s court on Monday.
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