Gauteng cycad smugglers caught red-handed

[caption id="attachment_34374" align="alignright" width="405"] VALUABLE FIND: Warrant officer Charl Stiemie and Constable Thulani Kewuti move the cycads. Picture: EUGENE COETZEE[/caption]

A SUSPECTED cycad-smuggling ring was smashed when the Green Scorpions and police arrested four Gauteng men and seized 25 endangered Eastern Cape blue cycads near Kirkwood.

If convicted, they could be fined up to R5-million or jailed for five years, or both. The bust was a two-pronged effort by the Environmental Affairs Department's enforcement unit and police.

The confiscated cycads, which were from the Blue Cliff area, were being transported on the back of a bakkie at the time. The four alleged syndicate members, or "couriers", ranging in age from 16 to 40, were arrested when their vehicle was pulled over on the R75 near the Kirkwood turnoff heading towards Jansenville, at about 8pm on Wednesday.

Experts said the arrests were a breakthrough in the cycad smuggling underworld operating between the Kirkwood area and Gauteng. Officials estimated the value of the cycads at about R280000. - Gareth Wilson