Six suspects will be appearing in court soon following an abalone bust worth R120 000 near the West Coast.
The suspects was arrested in the early hours of this morning, Thursday 2 February, the Table View police say.
Spokesperson, Captain Adriana Chandler, explained Table View police officer Sergeant Nathaniel van Rooi and his colleague were on crime prevention patrols when they spotted a white Toyota Corolla with a number of occupants driving recklessly and on the wrong side of the road at about 01:30 on Link Road, Parklands.
“The officer turned his vehicle around to follow the Toyota and noticed that the driver had increased his speed and failed to stop at a road traffic sign,” Chandler says.
The driver was instructed to pull to the side of the road, but refused.
A chase ensued which led them to the N7 highway towards Malmesbury, the police say.
Chandler says Van Rooi also called for assistance during the chase.
“The officer lost the vehicle, but kept searching whilst in communication with Sergeant Isak Izak of the Philadelphia police station. A short while later Izak confirmed that the vehicle had been found abandoned. The suspects had fled the scene.
The police started searching and found the six suspects a short while later. Two of them was apparently dressed in wet suits.
The vehicle was searched and six black bags with a total of 821 shucked abalone was found in the boot, the department of agriculture, forestry and fisheries who were called out to the scene, confirmed.
The abalone was confiscated and the suspects detained.
The suspects will appear in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday 6 February. They are aged between 22 and 32 years.
