Coega perlemoen bust: Cape syndicate link

THE perlemoen bust on a secluded Coega farm outside Port Elizabeth on Monday is believed to be linked to a national syndicate transporting the shell- fish from the Western Cape.

This was revealed yesterday after the Hawks and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Department officials finished counting and weighing the perlemoen recovered during a raid at the illegal fish processing factory.

Equipment including drying trays, huge boiling pots, fans and other items were found inside the farmhouse.

Officers worked throughout Monday night until the early hours of yesterday calculating the value.

The street value of all the items and perlemoen is R10-million, not R20-million as was earlier estimated. The perlemoen has been taken to an undisclosed location for safekeeping.

Yesterday, the police confirmed more arrests were imminent, some believed to be in Port Elizabeth.

A total of 37359 units of perlemoen, weighing about six tons, were found in the lounge of a farmhouse about 12km from Port Elizabeth on a dirt road running behind the Coega Hotel.

In the raid, police arrested three men who are due to appear in the Motherwell Magistrate's Court today on charges of running an illegal fish processing plant. - Gareth Wilson