Lawrence Muroma (36) and Qing Quen Feng (28) appeared at the Cape Town Regional Court today where they were each sentenced to effective one-year imprisonment for abalone dealing-related charges.
This follows their arrest on 17 May 2021 in a joint search and seizure operation undertaken by the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team together with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and Crime Intelligence Gathering at Philadephia.
Two vehicles, a truck and a sedan were stopped and a search was conducted. The team confiscated more than R50 000-00, 23 896 units of dried abalone in a false compartment inside the truck and an Audi A3 vehicle. The value of the abalone is more than R9 million.
The duo pleaded guilty on all charges which includes money laundering, landing, selling, and transportation of illegal abalone. They were sentenced for all the charges. Vehicles were forfeited by the state.