Western Cape police seize abalone worth more than R10 million in Athlone | News24

This picture shows some of the wet abalone that was being processed. (Western Cape police)

• Police confiscated abalone worth more than R10 million on Sunday.
• Three suspects were arrested and charged with illegal possession of abalone.
• The police said this was the province’s biggest abalone bust in recent years. 

Western Cape police confiscated abalone worth more than R10 million in Rylands, Athlone, during a bust on Sunday night.

Officers attached to the Tactical Response Team (TRT) arrested three suspects aged 28, 31 and 53.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Malcolm Pojie said members of the TRT acted on information about an abalone storage facility, which led them to an address in the industrial area of Rylands.

“Upon arrival at the address, members noticed how a suspect, who stood at the entrance gate to the premises, attempted to run away when he noticed the members approaching,” Pojie said.

The officers apprehended the man and discovered that the “massive storage building” had been converted into an abalone processing facility.

READ | Four men arrested in R1.4m perlemoen bust in Cape Town

Inside the facility, two other men were found “busy processing a substantial quantity of wet and dry abalone”, said Pojie.

Police confiscated 11 485 wet and 15 200 dry abalone, as well as equipment, with a total estimated value of R10.3 million.

Police confiscated abalone worth more than R10 million on Sunday. (Western Cape police)

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Officers acted on information about an abalone storage facility in Rylands, Athlone. (Western Cape police)

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Police teams remove the abalone. (Western Cape police)

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Police confiscated 11 485 wet and 15 200 dry abalone, as well as equipment, with a total estimated value of R10.3 million. (Western Cape police)

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Abalone worth more than R10 million was seized in Cape Town on Sunday. (Western Cape police)

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Pojie said the bust was “one of the biggest abalone busts” in this province.  

The three suspects are scheduled to appear in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on 17 September, facing charges of illegal possession of abalone.

“Simultaneously, another TRT platoon deployed in Nyanga seized a VW Caddy and 2 505 units of abalone which were found abandoned [when a] suspect fled the scene. [The suspect] is yet to be arrested,” said Pojie.