The Cape Town Regional Coury convicted Denver Langehoven and Solomon Sauls on charges of among others racketeering, fraud, and contravening the Marine Living Resources Act.
Abalone confiscated by police. Picture. SAPS/Facebook
CAPE TOWN – Two men who were part of an international abalone smuggling syndicate been convicted in the Cape Town Regional Court.
On Thursday, Denver Langenhven and Solomon Sauls were found guilty.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the pair played an integral part in the syndicate.
The court convicted Langehoven and Sauls on charges of among others racketeering, fraud, and contravening the Marine Living Resources Act.
The international syndicate was headed by two foreign nationals who were based in Gauteng and the Mother City.
They stood accused of having bought and rented properties which were turned into fish processing facilities around the Somerset West and Stellenbosch areas.
At these facilities, abalone was harvested, stored, processed, packed and exported to the far east without the necessary permits.
According to the NPA, the two masterminds behind the syndicate are also believed to have recruited several people in the Western Cape. Some have however turned state witness and have been exempted from prosecution, while others applied for separation trials after a few appearances in court.
Both men have since skipped bail and are on the run.
Meanwhile, Langehoven and Sauls were the only two who have been successfully convicted in court so far.
