The protection of living marine resources remain key to policing priorities in the Western Cape and this commitment ensured that three men were taken into custody after a large quantity of abalone was found in their possession on the N2 highway at Sedgefield on Sunday, 14 January 2023 at about 21:20.
Members attached to the Knysna Crime Prevention Unit in conjunction with Western Cape Provincial Traffic officers conducted a vehicle check point outside Sedgefield. The team pulled over a Kia Picanto with a large quantity of abalone found inside. The police confiscated 486 units of abalone. All three occupants were subsequently taken into custody for their possession thereof.
Preliminary investigation indicates that the vehicle was en-route from Plettenberg Bay to Cape Town at the time of the discovery.
The three Malawian nationals aged 28, 34 and 36, remain in police custody. They are expected to make their first court appearance in the Knysna Magistrates’ court on Tuesday, 16 January 2024.
Western Cape police management commended those involved with the arrest and confiscations. Such interventions with the strategic deployment of police and other law enforcement agencies to bring the unlawful harvesting as well as trafficking of the valuable living marine resources along the coast to a halt.