Top Gansbaai poachers apprehended in Port Elizabeth
Two of Gansbaai’s most wanted and hardened abalone poachers were apprehended in a SAPS operation in the Port Elizabeth area on Tuesday night.
Officials recieved information about a vehicle that was going to transport abalone from Port Elizabeth to Bloemfontein. Officials requested Cookhouse Police to stop the vehicle for them while they were on their way and supplied them with details of the vehicles in use.
Two vehicles were chased and the driver and occupant of a Porsche Cayenne fled the scene after the vehicle was stopped. Occupants of a Toyota Camry were apprehended when there vehicle was stopped.
It later transpired that the two arrested suspects were Frankie Barends, a well-known and convicted abalone poacher from Gansbaai and MN Chaka, also known in abalone smuggling circles.
In 2013 Barends was involved in smuggling operations estimated to net in the region of more than R2 billion, and that the syndicate members of which he was the suspected leader, pocketed more than R50 million, which was used to fund their lifestyles and buy cars and property.
In Tuesday nights operation a Porsche Cayenne Turbo, a trailer, a Toyota Camry and 9 398 units of abalone were confiscated.
