Cops 'helped smuggle abalone'
2004-09-21 08:54
Cape Town - Gansbaai is abuzz after police arrested seven of their colleagues who they say were working hand-in-glove with abalone smugglers in the town.
Members of the police's crime intelligence service and the unit against organised crime arrested four members of the Gansbaai police, one of the Stanford police and two of the unit for public order in Paarl on Friday in connection with the illegally trade of abalone.
Captain Eugene Sitzer, police spokesperson, said on Monday the arrests came after an investigation that took several months.
Inspectors DP October, Gavin Julies, JH Behr, Hester Smith, FP Rossouw, EC Delport and sergeant JW Baartman appeared in the Hermanus magistrate's court on Monday on charges ranging from corruption to obstructing the ends of justice.
Accused's husband suspended
Behr is stationed at the Stanford police station, Rossouw and Delport in Paarl with the unit for public order and the others work in Gansbaai.
Members of the unit for public order have been deployed in the past as part of Operation Neptune to curb abalone poaching.
Smith's husband, Thomas, also used to be a policeman in the town, but he and a colleague were arrested in November 2002 when the Scorpions busted the so-called Marx Syndicate of which Elizette Marx was thought to be the leader.
As part of a plea bargain, Smith pleaded guilty at the time on charges that he helped to poach abalone.
He also admitted that he provided poachers with information on where police were lying in wait. He was suspended from the police service.
Provincial police chief, Commissioner Mzwandile Petros, said on Monday that police were determined to root out corruption in their ranks.
The seven were released on bail and will appear in court again on October 6.