Two men are due in court today after they were bust with nearly a ton of perly worth an estimated R720 000.
The suspects took great care in hiding their precious cargo from authorities by concealing it in a false compartment between a vrag hout.
Cops pulled them over near Uniondale in the Southern Cape and discovered 900kg of abalone in plastic bags hidden among the wood in their trailer.
Police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie says the two suspects were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning during a routine search by cops.
Upon further investigation, cops discovered that the Toyota Fortuner had been reported as stolen in Goodwood in April.
According to a police source, the abalone belongs to a syndicate operating in the Overberg.
“The suspects are due in Uniondale Magistrates’ Court on Thursday on charges of the illegal possession of abalone,” says Pojie.
In August last year, Beaufort West cops nabbed two men from the Hermanus area who tried to conceal more than 4 000 abalone in a coffin being transported in a hearse.