Perlemoen poaching kingpin Morné Blignault was convicted along with four others on Friday on racketeering charges.
Blignault, 46, had already been sentenced in September to 20 years in jail after being convicted of similar charges.
Blignault, Jacob “Japie” Naumann, 35, Jan “Danie” Prinsloo, 31, and Paul Bezuidenhout, 22, pleaded guilty earlier this month to a string of charges which included racketeering, contravening the Living Marine Resources Act and theft.
Blignault’s son Morné Jr, 26, pleaded not guilty to racketeering but Port Elizabeth High Court judge Glenn Goosen convicted him on the charge after finding that he knew about his father’s perlemoen poaching enterprise and had actively participated in its dealings.
All five men where charged with 16 counts.
The charges stem from an illicit perlemoen smuggling enterprise and an apparent web of organised crime extending across Nelson Mandela Bay during November 2016 and January 2017.
Blignault was out on bail at the time, having been charged in connection with a multimillion-rand perlemoen drying operation at an Olifantskop farm which resulted in a 20year prison sentence.
On Friday Goosen detailed the events leading up to the arrest of the five men, including how a local attorney’s office was used to store perlemoen, the involvement of a panelbeating business in North End, and how the competence of two off-duty anti-poaching officers had led to the seizure of 700kg of perlemoen just outside Paterson.
On the evening of February 8 2017 Captain Rassie Erasmus and his son Nikky had finished their shift and were getting something to eat when they noticed a red Golf GTI, followed by a red Isuzu bakkie, which the pair became suspicious of and began following.
Near Kempston Road, Erasmus contacted Warrant Officer Kana Swanepoel and a rolling stop was initiated near Paterson where the GTI and bakkie were stopped and searched. They found 6,013 units of perlemoen and the two drivers of the vehicles were arrested.
The arrests ultimately resulted in the discovery of two freezers containing traces of perlemoen in a locked garage.
Goosen acquitted each of the five men on 10 charges related to contravening the Marine Resources Act after the state was not able to link them to certain activities on specific days.
The case was postponed to December 14 for sentencing.
Blignault and Naumann will remain in custody, while their co-accused are out on bail.