Abalone, the new cannabis?
Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 3:52 am
NSW Police say they have smashed a syndicate trafficking more than a million dollars worth of illegal abalone.
They say syndicate members took hundreds of kilograms of abalone from remote parts of the NSW coast and sold them to illicit dealers, including some in Sydney.
A joint operation between police and NSW Fisheries has been investigating the syndicate since late last year, but detectives believe it may have been operating for well over ten years.
Abalone ... prized.
About 11.30am (AEDT) yesterday, police and fisheries officers arrested a man from Mogo at Batemans Bay on the south coast.
They also allegedly seized more than 1300 abalone weighing about 122 kilograms.
Another man, from Moruya, was arrested a short time later.
The two men, aged 54 and 27, have each been charged with three counts of poaching and trafficking in illegal fish species.
They have been bailed to appear at Batemans Bay Local Court on Monday.
"This is going to have a significant impact on the black market for abalone in NSW," Superintendent Mark Hutchings said in a statement.
The legal catch limit for abalone is two per person in waters where taking them is allowed.
