PRESS RELEASE BY OM – During the first weekend of September 2024, the Overstrand Municipality’s Law Enforcement Services’ continuous and vigilant patrols resulted in several arrests for the illegal possession of crayfish and abalone throughout the region.
The week’s successes began with an operation on the R43 near Honingklip, when the Rapid Response Unit arrested a suspect after discovering 466 whole West Coast Rock Lobsters (WCRL), 2 012 crayfish tails and 221 tails with eggs, hidden in the car. The stop-and-search was part of an ongoing crime prevention and road policing operation.
The 41-old man, residing in Mitchell’s Plain, was charged for the illegal possession and transportation of an excessive amount of crayfish tails. The legal limit for an individual to possess crayfish is four per permit.
In Gansbaai, a Law Enforcement officer arrested a suspect with 74 alikreukel and one undersized abalone. Further down the coast, the Task Team arrested a man from Kleinmond with 25 abalone and 11 alikreukels found in shopping bags.
On Sunday, the Task Team confiscated 3 277 shucked abalone and a silver BMW on the R43 near Misty Mountains. A 33-year old man from Gansbaai was arrested and handed over to the Stanford Police.
The second big bust was made along the N2 near Langhoogte, when a provincial traffic officer requested assistance to stop a suspicious looking vehicle. Upon searching the silver Toyota Etios with a CY registration number, Task Team officers discovered 17 clear bags containing 2 466 units of abalone hidden under a black plastic sheet.
In an unrelated incident, the Land Invasion Unit which is part of the Task Team, was busy demolishing an illegal structure in Masakhane in Gansbaai, when they found 697 shucked abalone abandoned in the structure.
Another positive development came when a stolen vehicle was recovered and a suspect arrested. The Overstrand Municipality’s K9-unit acted on information and managed to track the vehicle, which had been stolen in Bishop Lavis. The vehicle was handed over to the Hermanus Police.
