Cape Town – Six suspects were arrested for the possession of flora without the necessary documentation and money laundering after an integrated cross-border operation, South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed in a statement.
According to police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi, the group of six was travelling from the Northern Cape to the Western Cape when they were pinched by police.
“On Monday 10 October 2022, after spending a night in a guest house in a town in the Northern Cape, six males departed for Cape Town in possession of presumed stolen property. The police members, on the border of the Western Cape were alerted upon which they operationalised the information.
ALSO READ | Cape Town five-year-old girl kidnapped by armed men on her way to school
“They spotted the suspicious vehicle on the N7 highway driving at a high speed near to Bitterfontein and stopped and searched the occupants and the vehicle. They confiscated a number of bags containing seeds (flora).
“The six males were arrested and detained on charges of possession of flora without the necessary documentation and money laundering,” Swartbooi said.
Three Saudi Arabian nationals aged between 25 and 50 entered a plea and sentence agreement and were ordered to pay a fine of R2 million in the Vredendal Regional court on Tuesday, November 01. The case against the remaining three males who were recruited to assist was provisionally withdrawn in court.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: Pixabay
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
