South African Press Association (Johannesburg)
23 May 2003
Cape Town — Police attached to the Western Cape's organised crime unit, assisted by border police, seized 16,500 frozen perlemoen (abalone) when they raided a factory in Parow on Thursday night, Western Cape police said on Friday.
Police spokesman Superintendent Riaan Pool said the frozen perlemoen was worth about R3,8-million.
Pool said the factory in Jones Street had been under observation for a few days as part of an investigation into the illegal activities of a perlemoen syndicate.
Pool said police found a large fridge packed with 112 boxes each containing a plastic bag with hundreds of frozen perlemoen on the premises. It was ready for shipment.
According to investigating officers the boxes of perlemoen were to have been transported to Johannesburg and from there flown to the Far East.
The commanding officer of the organised crime unit Senior Superintendent Johan Marais said no one had been arrested during the raid.
Marais said Thursday night's seizure formed part of a bigger investigation into the activities of a certain syndicate.
"The suspects have been identified and will be arrested as soon as the investigation nears finalisation," Marais said.
The national Director for Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka said on Thursday that Chinese triads were paying for perlemoen with drugs.
He said Chinese triads who ravaged the country's perlemoen were also flooding the local market with Mandrax.
"They (the triads) exchange the Mandrax for perlemoen, which is then exported to Taiwan and China, where it is considered an aphrodisiac," Ngcuka told a Business Against Crime breakfast in Johannesburg.
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