Police in the Western Cape on Tuesday said they had recovered abalone worth millions of rand and arrested five men and a woman suspected of illegal trade in two separate operations.
"Last night. At about 7pm information was operationalised and led various police units to a farm on the Bottelary Road, Brackenfell where two suspects aged 43 and 46 were arrested for operating an illegal abalone processing facility," said police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut.
"The seizure at the crime scene comprised 6,878 units of fresh abalone, 24,922 units of dry abalone and equipment used for the processing of abalone."
In another incident in Milnerton at around 7.30pm police members reacted to information and apprehended a cold storage truck in Montagu Gardens which was searched.
"This search led to the discovery of 213 bags of frozen abalone with an approximate weight of five ton. Four suspects, a 23-year-old female and three males aged 24, 26 and 37 were arrested for the illegal possession of abalone. The truck was also confiscate," said Traut.
He said while the exact value of the seized abalone was yet to be determined it was estimated at several million rand.
"We will not allow criminals to strip the marine resources of the Western Cape, and we will continue with our intelligence driven operations to fight the scourge."
The suspects will appear in courts in Kuilsrivier and Cape Town.