During the early morning hours on Thursday 20 November 2014, members from the Cape Town K9 Unit responded to information of vehicles allegedly transporting illegal abalone from the outskirts of Hermanus to Cape Town and proceeded to conduct patrols along the N2 in the vicinity of Lwandle and Sir Lowry’s Pass.
At approximately 06:00 they spotted a heavy loaded white Volkswagen TDi hatch back travelling on the N2 and pulled the vehicle from the road opposite Lwandle, Strand. Upon searching the vehicle they recovered 12 bags of shucked abalone from inside the vehicle and the boot. The driver, a 30 year old man from Nyanga, was arrested and detained at Lwandle police station.
Officials from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries were summoned to the police station after which the abalone was counted. It amounted to 1 636 units of shucked and 63 units of shelled abalone. The value thereof was estimated in excess of R200 000-00. (Two hundred thousand Rand).
The arrested man is due to appear in the Strand Magistrates’ Court on Monday 24 November.
Also view:
Crime as a Threat to Road Safety
