The owner of a popular take-aways in Strandfontein has been arrested after he and four other men were caught with poached perly worth R120 000.
The man, known for his lekker boerewors and steak rolls which he sells at his shop the “ Blou Dakke”, was busted after cops followed up on a tip-off about illegal perlemoen operations in a nearby informal settlement.
“Strandfontein police got a tip-off about people busy with perlemoen in Oppermansoord informal settlement where they found the men busy with the abalone,” says a source.
“They found them with 435 wet abalone and one of the two coloured men arrested was him.”
Police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, confirms officers received a tip-off and says on arrival, caught the men busy processing the perly worth an estimated R120 000.
LOOT: Perly, nets, phones and a bakkie seized.
“The members also confiscated green nets, five cellphones, a scale, a silver Chevrolet LDV (bakkie) along with other equipment [used] to process abalone.
“Five males, aged between 26 and 43, were arrested and are due to appear in the Mitchells Plain Magistrates’ Court [today].”
Community Police Forum (CPF) chairperson, Sandy Schuter, says this is the second time the owner, who may not be named until he has appeared in court, is arrested on abalone-related charges.
“He was arrested about five years ago, but we never heard anything again,” she says.
“He opened the take-aways at the Blou Dakke. There are allegations that he used the business as a front but as the CPF, we never received any complaints about (funny) smells or anything coming from his business.
“Also the arrest was not made there but in the informal settlement near Camp Road. We are happy with the swift response by police.”
TIP-OFF: A Standfontein takeaways owner among those caught with abalone.
This arrest follows another bust in Table View on Thursday where cops caught a 35-year-old Chinese man transporting R1.5 million worth of abalone in his larney BMW.
Van Wyk says cops received a tip-off and pulled over the white BMW X5 in Porterfield Road and found the suspect in possession of 973 units of shucked abalone.
According to a source, cops also searched the man’s house in Coral Road, but found nothing.
The suspect allegedly remained toebek about where he was going with the abalone and “played dom”, claiming he could not understand English, says the source.
LOOT: Perly, nets, phones and a bakkie seized