WESTERN CAPE – The Hawks’ Economic Protected Resources (EPR) and South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau (SANEB) teams together with Crime Intelligence and officials from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment have arrested four suspects for allegedly running an abalone processing facility.

The multi-disciplinary team uncovered an illegal abalone drying facility in Killarney Gardens during a search and seizure operation on Monday, 02 January 2023.

The team found 8993 units weighing 2 475,91 kg of wet abalone, kept in plastic buckets, with an estimated street value of more than R4,5 million.

Four suspects aged between 24 and 39 were subsequently arrested and are expected to appear in the Cape Town Magistrate Court on Wednesday, 04 January 2023.

Source: South African Police Service