Police are urging residents in coastal cities or towns to assist in protecting endangered marine life. This comes after positive information from a member of the public led to the arrest of two men for illegal possession of abalone valued R28 000-00 in St Francis Bay today.
On Wednesday, 07 July 2021 at about 06:40, it is alleged that a resident alerted a private security company about suspicious people, who were busy loading bags into a navy Toyota Avanza at Shark Point in St Francis Bay. A private security company dispatched a patrol vehicle. At the scene, security personnel on seeing that four (04) suspects were poaching abalone, they contacted police for assistance. The suspects sped away in a navy Avanza.
At Tarragona Road, two suspects disembarked from a vehicle and ran to the nearby bushes. The other two were cornered and arrested for illegal possession of abalone. 163 abalone valued R28 000.00, in whole state were seized. Police also found a diving equipment, and impounded a vehicle. An application for the vehicle to be forfeited to the State will follow. The investigation is continuing.
The two men aged 30 and 53 are due to appear in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 08 July 2021, on charges of Contravening the Marine Living Resource Act 18 of 1998 Reg 36 – illegal possession of abalone.
