Suspects expected to appear in Cape Town court regarding multi-million-rand abalone bust

Four suspects are expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday in connection with a multi-million-rand abalone bust in Killarney Gardens.

A team including members of the Hawks and officials from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment arrested the suspects this week, for allegedly running an illegal abalone processing facility.

Hawks spokesperson, Zinzi Hani explains, “The team found 8 993 units weighing 2 475,91 kg of wet abalone, kept in plastic buckets, with an estimated street value of more than R4,5 million. Four suspects aged between 24 and 39 were subsequently arrested and are expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 04 January 2023.”

March 2022 bust

In March last year, Western Cape traffic officials confiscated abalone worth an estimated R400 000 on the N2 near Grabouw in the Overberg.

Provincial traffic spokesperson Jandre Bakker at the time said a man, who was stopped during a routine stop and search process, tried to bribe an officer before fleeing the scene.

During the stop-and-search process, the driver of the vehicle did not respond to multiple requests to open the boot of the vehicle. The driver in his early 40s then tried to bribe the officer before fleeing the scene.

1515 units of abalone were found in his vehicle with an estimated street value of R400 000.