Three men with Chinese passports will appear in the Vosloorus Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 15 September 2014, following their arrest Saturday afternoon, when an illegal abalone processing facility in Van Dyk Park, Boksburg, was raided.
This follows a tip-off from a member of the community to the metro police.
During the joint operation, involving officials of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the South African Police Services (SAPS), 10 508 units of dry abalone (total weight of 860kg) and almost a ton (9997.3kg) of wet abalone was confiscated as well as drying equipment worth R50 000.
They will be charge with being in possession of abalone without a permit and operating a fish processing plant without a permit.
This is the second major raid in the area after more than 50 000 units of abalone were confiscated in a bust on another drying facility in Rynfield, Benoni, in July 2014. During that operation, one Chinese national, two Mozambicans and a Malawian citizen were arrested. They are still in custody and will appear in court again next week Monday, 22 September 2014 for a bail application.
DAFF does not suspect any link between the two incidents.
Enquiries and/or comments:
Lionel Adendorf, Director: Communication Services (Fisheries)
Tel: 061 494 1105
