A man (29) accused of possessing abalone worth millions of rands will appear in court again on 12 September.
The accused, Jian Liang Wu, appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court on Friday where he was released on R20 000 bail. The matter was postponed to 12 September for further investigation.
This follows Wu’s arrest at a house in Iona Street, Bellville, earlier last week. The Hawks’ Economic Protected Resources Team (EPR) Western Cape together with Crime Intelligence Counter Narcotics and Gangs, Bellville Crime Prevention unit and officials from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment, followed up on a tip-off where they found Wu sitting in a silver Mercedes-Benz outside the house.
“An endangered species K9 detection dog was activated and reacted positively at the boot of the vehicle as well on the container that was also found on the premises,” says Zinzi Hani, the Hawks’ spokesperson.
“Upon opening the boot of the vehicle, they found five boxes containing 2055 units of dried abalone.”
The bigger stash was inside the house where officers opened a container and found 20 more boxes of dried abalone with an estimated value of more than R2,8 million was found.
