KWAZULU-NATAL – On Friday 28 October 2022, Hawks members from Port Shepstone Serious Organised Crime Investigation assisted by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment arrested a 28-year-old suspect for dealing in cycad plants at Kwanyuswa area near Ezinqoleni.
Police received information about a suspect who was advertising cycad plants for sale on Facebook. The suspect indicated that he was not in possession of a permit to do so. An undercover operation was conducted and five cycad plants were recovered. A further search was conducted in his residence and two large encephalartos ghellinckii cycads and thirty nine small Encephalartos natalensis cycads were seized.
The suspect was placed under arrest and charged for illegal dealing in cycad plants. He is expected to appear in the Ezingolweni Magistrate’s Court today.
Source: South African Police Service