Six men held for moving cycads

2003-10-30 20:16

East London - Six men were arrested for allegedly removing cycads worth about R169 000 from a dense forest in the Silverdale rural area outside East London, police said on Thursday.

Inspector Stephen Marais said the men were arrested on Tuesday while busy removing and loading the plants onto a vehicle parked nearby.

He said some of the men tried to run away from the police, but all six were apprehended and 26 plants were seized.

The length of the smallest plant was 36cm and the tallest is 3.9m. The tallest plant was estimated to be between 280 and 300 years old, Marais said.

He said the men, aged between 29 and 53, appeared in an East London magistrate's court on Thursday. One of them was released on R1 000 bail while the five were released on R500 bail each.

The one on R1 000 bail came from near Johannesburg, and the five others were all from East London. Their case was postponed to December 5, Marais said.

He said officials from the local environmental affairs department would replant the flora in its conservation area in a bid to rehabilitate it.

The maximum fine for the illegal removal or possession of cycad is 10 years imprisonment or a R100 000 fine or both, or a fine not exceeding three times the commercial value of the flora.

- SAPA