Abalone estimated to be worth R700 000 has been confiscated in the Southern Cape town of Plettenberg Bay.

A police-led operation involving its sea border unit, the South African National Parks, and private security resulted in the find and arrest of three suspects in the bushes near The Crags.

The trio is expected to appear in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrate’s Court on charges of illegal possession of abalone.

The large quantity of abalone has been handed over to inspectors of the Fisheries Department for safekeeping and the disposing thereof.

The Western Cape Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile has lauded the blow to the illicit abalone trade. He has vowed that these crackdowns will continue other illegal harvesting and trafficking of the province’s marine resources.