Abalone Poaching

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Lisbeth
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Re: Abalone Poaching

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Alleged perlemoen poaching syndicate members back in court

2018-08-29 06:17
Iavan Pijoos


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Nineteen suspected members of a massive perlemoen poaching syndicate are expected back in the dock at the Cape Town Regional Court on Wednesday.

The 19 suspects, nine of whom are marine inspectors from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, were arrested in March.

They are facing charges of corruption and racketeering.

The alleged syndicate is believed to have operated in Gansbaai, Hermanus, Hawston, Bredasdorp, Stanford, Pearly Beach and Kuilsriver.

It is alleged that the department officials sold back confiscated perlemoen to buyers, who were also taken into custody on suspicion of being part of the syndicate.

The officials also allegedly escorted illegal consignments of perlemoen.


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Re: Abalone Poaching

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.....nine of whom are marine inspectors from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries............
Not one or two but NINE!!

Are they so badly paid that it is worth the risk :-?


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Re: Abalone Poaching

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Perly kingpin finally cracks
Blignaut pleads guilty in face of overwhelming evidence against him


BY DEVON KOEN - 11 September 2018

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Morne Blignaut and his legal counsel advocate, Alwyn Griebenow, in the Port Elizabeth High Court
Image: DEVON KOEN


A suspicious farmer, CCTV footage and employees prepared to rat him out were ultimately the downfall of perlemoen kingpin Morne Blignaut who – faced with a barrage of evidence – changed his plea on Monday to guilty on three serious charges.

Appearing in the Port Elizabeth High Court, Blignaut, 46, pleaded guilty to two counts of racketeering and one of contravening the Marine Living Resources Act.

Blignaut was one of six people arrested and charged with a string of offences after their perlemoen processing operation on a farm just outside Port Elizabeth was intercepted by police.

He had initially pleaded not guilty, but changed his mind when it became clear that the state had overwhelming evidence against him.

His about-turn occurred shortly before the court was to view surveillance footage captured by police on the Oliphantskop farm in 2013 and 2014.

After the lunch adjournment, Blignaut’s legal counsel, advocate Alwyn Griebenow, told judge Dayalin Chetty that his client wished to make certain admissions.

“Do you want to change your plea to guilty?” Chetty asked a sombre-looking Blignaut.

Blignaut nodded his head and said “yes”.

His co-accused – ex-wife Marshelle Blignaut, 40, Jacob “Japie” Naumann, 34, Frederick “Frikkie” Nance, 24, Petrus “Pietie” Smith, 31, and Willie Nance, 56 – pleaded guilty to a string of charges including racketeering and the illegal trade in abalone (perlemoen) on August 22.


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Re: Abalone Poaching

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:X: @#$


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Re: Abalone Poaching

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Man arrested for abalone possession valued at R1m

Wednesday 12 September 2018 - 7:01pm
File: Police say they were working tirelessly to close down syndicates who are stealing our maritime resources.


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JOHANNESBURG - A total of 2064 units of abalone worth close to R1-million was seized from a 45-year-old man on Wednesday.

Western Cape police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said they were working tirelessly to close down syndicates who are stealing our maritime resources.


"This morning members from the Western Cape Flying squad conducting an intelligence driven operation, spotted a white Opel Corsa in De Wingerd Avenue, Burgundy Estate, they stopped it. Upon searching the vehicle, police discovered a false compartment between the back seat and built in speakers in the boot," Rwexana said.

"Further investigation led the police to the residence of the suspect where bags containing shucked abalone and four scales were found in a courtyard. In the bedroom numerous items of equipment generally used in illegal abalone processing facilities which includes, large steel cooking pots, gas cylinders and burners, fans, large plastic containers and bags of salt were found. A total of 2064 units of abalone were found worth an estimated street value of a million rand."



Rwexana said the man was arrested on charges under the Living Marine Resources Act and is expected to appear in Parow Magistrate's Court on Friday.
https://www.enca.com/news/man-arrested- ... valued-r1m


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Re: Abalone Poaching

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Police say they were working tirelessly to close down syndicates who are stealing our maritime resources.
Also in this case they have started too late. It's been going on for years 0*\ and when even the inspectors are involved......


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Re: Abalone Poaching

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SA has lost 96 million abalone to poaching since 2000 - new report

2018-09-19 07:28
Jenni Evans


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Some of the perlemoen found by police at the Cape Town home. (File photo supplied by SA Police Service)

Poachers have taken at least 96 million units of South Africa's abalone in the past 17 years, leaving the future of the snail-like sea delicacy in danger of becoming extinct, according to international wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

"Efforts to curb the illegal trade have roundly failed. Once abundant, the population of South African abalone Haliotis midae is declining to unprecedented levels," warned TRAFFIC in the report titled: Empty Shells: An assessment of abalone poaching and trade from southern Africa.

"The rampant illegal harvesting of abalone has resulted in the loss of a valuable commodity worth approximately R628m per annum," said the report.

Researchers believe the only way to protect the species from going extinct, and not lose the income legally fished abalone generates, is international collaboration to regulate its trade.

This includes listing it again in terms of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

CITES protects the global trade in endangered, threatened and at-risk species.

"That lack of regulation means that once abalone shipments have been smuggled out of South Africa to neighbouring countries, they can easily be laundered without fear of law enforcement action."

According to the report, world imports of abalone outweigh legal production levels in southern Africa with the total mass of imports from 2000 to 2016 being 55 863 tonnes, while only 18 905 tonnes was legally produced over the same period.

Estimated traded volumes of illegally harvested abalone have steadily grown since 2008 and by 2016, the estimated mass of illegally harvested abalone reached 3 224 tonnes, contributing 64% of the total imports for that year.


Empty Shells: Inside the illegal abalone trade from TRAFFIC on Vimeo.

Involvement of organised crime

TRAFFIC said that based on the average mass of individual abalone in each year provided by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, this equates to over 9.5 million animals poached in 2016 – the highest annual figure for the 2000 to 2016 period.

An analysis of trade routes also suggested that up to 43% of the illegally harvested abalone was traded through a number of non-abalone-producing sub-Saharan African countries to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region between 2000 and 2016.

The in-transit and market states do not have legal provisions requiring traders to demonstrate that abalone products were fished legally.

"These are almost the highest if not the highest poaching levels we have seen in the last 20 or more years," says TRAFFIC's programme co-ordinator Markus Bürgener.

"This is not just a fisheries problem. Many other agencies need to get involved to address the problem holistically.

"Because of the involvement of organised crime, the apparent links to gangs in Cape Town, the links between the trade in abalone and the trade in drugs, there are also some clear negative socio-economic impacts associated with it. You have whole cohorts of people along the coast that are involved, and their work experience is only within an illicit economy."


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Re: Abalone Poaching

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Poaching of Abelones and not only, is not because of "the injustices of the past" (only a minor part), but because of the lack of work for the poor, which is because of the uselessness of the present and last Governments.


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Re: Abalone Poaching

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:yes: Lis.



'Arch Villain' in multi-million rand abalone enterprise jailed for 20 years

Wednesday 19 September 2018 - 4:48pm

The “arch villain” in a multi-million rand perlemoen enterprise Morne Blignaut was sentenced to an effective 20 years behind bars in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Wednesday.
Raahil Sain
ANA
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PORT ELIZABETH - The “arch villain” in a multi-million rand perlemoen enterprise was sentenced to an effective 20 years behind bars in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, Morne Blignaut pleaded guilty and was convicted on two charges of racketeering and a charge of contravening the Marine Living Resources Act.

He had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges but did an about turn after it became apparent that the State had overwhelming evidence against him.

Judge Dayalin Chetty said that Blignaut's guilty plea unveiled him as the mastermind behind the crimes.

Chetty dismissed Blignaut's guilty plea as an indication of genuine remorse adding that if he was truly remorseful he would have, prior to the separation of his trial from that of his then co-accused, taken full responsibility for his role.

He said that Blignaut was unmasked as the "arch villain" in the widespread plunder of abalone from our coastal waters.

Chetty found that Blignaut's role in a "transnational criminal syndicate" was integral to its success and, given the duration of the activity on the Oliphants Kop farm, it must have yielded handsome financial rewards.

https://www.enca.com/news/arch-villain- ... d-20-years


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Re: Abalone Poaching

Post by Lisbeth »

Hopefully this means that there is going to be less abelone poaching......if there is not someone else ready to take over O-/


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