Four held for perlemoen stash

Cape Town - Four men have been arrested after being found in possession of abalone in Nomzamo near Strand, Western Cape police said on Sunday.

Captain Frederick van Wyk said the four were found counting perlemoen in a shack at the back of a house when police pounced following a tip-off on Friday.

“Police confiscated 2026 units of abalone (perlemoen) which was kept inside plastic bags,” he said.

The men aged between 18 and 33 were expected to appear in the Strand Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.

This was the second perlemoen recovery police had made in the Western Cape on Friday.

Earlier that day, police spotted a suspicious vehicle on the Salmonsdam gravel road close to Modder Rivier farm near Stanford.

Police chased the vehicle and found it abandoned later nearby the bushes.

It was searched and several bags of perlemoen were recovered.

Van Wyk said another vehicle with a flat tyre was spotted next to the road not far from where the first vehicle was found abandoned.

“A police dog reacted positively and the vehicle was forced open,” he said.

Several black refuse bags containing 8087 perlemoen were recovered inside the vehicle.

No arrests have been made and police are still investigating. - Sapa