Eastern Cape police crack down on poachers
Five men will appear in the Humansdorp magistrate's court on Friday after they were caught in possession of perlemoen worth R250,000.
While on the other side of the province, three suspects will appear in Komani magistrate's court on Monday on charges of possession and/or dealing in drugs and perlemoen.
Police spokesperson Capt Marius McCarthy said the five men, aged between 22 and 37 years old, were arrested in Jeffreys Bay on Thursday.
'Dedicated members attached to a multidisciplinary abalone task team, operating in the Kouga municipal area, successfully executed an intelligence driven, waylay operation in targeted areas along the Jeffrey's Bay coastline.
'According to reports a group of suspected abalone poachers were spotted carrying bags, suspected to be filled with abalone.'
He said the police members tactically approached the group and arrested five suspects in terms of the Marine Living Resources Act.
Meanwhile an intelligence driven multidisciplinary tactical operation by Komani dog unit (K9), Komani crime intelligence and Red Guard Security guards, led to the arrest of three people, aged between 26 and 45, on Thursday evening.
Police spokesperson Capt Yolisa Mgolodela said police received information at about 6pm about a white Toyota Starlet sedan with a GP registration number that was transporting abalone and crystal meth (tik) from East London to Gauteng via Komani.
'The joint team spotted the vehicle that matched the description at 7.40pm.
'The car with three occupants was stopped on N6 near Komani Hospital.
'The trio tried to evade arrest by running to different directions without success as police swiftly caught up with them.'
Mgolodela said one bag of perlemoen with 212 units weighing 28kg with a street value of more than R50,000, 500g crystal meth (tik) with a street value of more than R150,000 and four cellphones were seized during the arrest.
'The Toyota Starlet, worth more than R520,000, was also seized.'
District commissioner Maj Gen Rudolph Adolph lauded the police members for their swift action and subsequent arrests.
The Herald
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