Western Cape police have discovered an illegal abalone processing facility in Parow.
According to a report from provincial police, on Wednesday (22 February) officers of the Cape Town K9 Unit and officials from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Daff) observed a suspicious vehicle with two occupants which pulled over in Voortrekker Road.
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana, says two men got out of the vehicle and when approached by police, officers noticed a blanket covering the back seat.
“Upon searching the vehicle plastic bags containing wet shucked abalone were found under the blanket and in the front passenger side of the vehicle. Upon questioning the men it appeared to be a delivery. A while thereafter a man arrived in a Nissan Almera, apparently to collect the abalone.”
She says the preliminary investigation led the officers to a warehouse in Huguenot Street, Parow, where they discovered an illegal abalone processing facility.
In one area they recovered a large steel cooking pot, gas cylinders, burners and containers. Alongside it was a drying room filled with a substantial amount of abalone on shelves, being dried, and in a corner on the ground there was a large amount of dried abalone.
In total, 12 295 units of dried abalone and 1 222 units of wet shucked abalone were seized, worth an estimated street value of R2.5 million.
All three men aged 28, 35 and 42 were arrested and both vehicles seized. The suspects will appear in the Parow Magistrate’s Court on Friday 24 February.
