Seven granted bail in abalone poaching case

Update

GEORGE NEWS - Seven of the eight men arrested for their involvement in an abalone poaching syndicate, were granted bail in the George Magistrate's Court on Friday 14 June.

Jianxian Wu (49), Jerome Jacobs( 51), Magnon Swartz (56), Marius Robyn Hendricks (50), Francois Visser (46), Jacob 'Jappie' Arendse (56), Danny Ralph Marais (65), Koobadran Naidoo (62) and Kaiden Logistics CC appeared on a series of charges ranging from transportation and storage of illegal abalone, money laundering, managing the affairs of a criminal enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity and illegal exporting of abalone.

The company, Kaiden Logistics CC, was also charged as it was instrumental in the operation.

Naidoo, Jacobs, Swartz, Hendricks, Visser, Arendse, Marais and the company were released on bail.

Wu's bail application was postponed to 24 June. He was arrested in Brits in the North West Province in May this year, while the other suspects were arrested during a takedown operation with a series of tracing operations across the Western Cape and Garden Route on Monday 10 June.

According to a spokesperson for the Hawks, WO Zinzi Hani, a total of 25,3 tonne of abalone, with a value of about R37m, was seized from the suspects since the start of the investigation by the Hawks in George in 2016. A total of 12 cases were registered with a combined total of 77 charges against the suspects.

Magnon Swartz