In broad daylight, groups of poachers hidden among the rocks of a South African marine conservation area wade slowly into the icy, shark-infested waters of the Atlantic Ocean in search of “white gold.”
Foot soldiers of a global criminal network stretching from the southernmost tip of Africa to the other side of the globe, they are scouring the rocks for abalone to meet insatiable demand from for the shellfish considered a delicacy in Asia.
The hunt is driving the species to the edge of extinction, but fears of being caught — either by coast guards or great white sharks — are relegated to the back of poachers’ minds in view of the glittering prizes on offer.
“We didn’t get much now but we will go out again tonight with the boat,” veteran poacher Stephan said as he emerged warily from the water as fisheries’ inspectors in speed boats could be seen whizzing about looking for boats further out to sea.
Destined for trendy restaurants in Hong Kong and China, abalone — dubbed “white gold” after its pearly flesh — can fetch up to 4,500 rand (US$420) a kilogram on the South African black market, and nearly three times that in Asia, experts say.
Also found in abundance in cold waters off New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the west coast of the US, abalone from South Africa is considered to be among the best.
The divers may only get 300 rand per kilogram, but in impoverished coastal villages such as Hout Bay, blighted by sky-high unemployment, that is still good money.
Caught on both sides of South Africa’s coastline, abalone, or perlemoen as it is called locally, is sold for cash or exchanged for methamphetamines, helping fuel South Africa’s already serious drug problem.
“Tonight we expect a good haul of between 50 and 60kg, maybe 100kg if we’re lucky,” Stephan said, shivering after two hours underwater in a battered wetsuit.
Like others interviewed for this story, he asked to be identified only by his first name.
Moving from their iron and wood shacks on the steep slopes of Hout Bay’s Hangberg, 20km east of Cape Town, the poachers trek over a snake-infested ridge, carrying heavy scuba-diving gear before reaching their destination of Seal Island.
With mobile phones sealed in condoms to keep out the water, they scan the ocean for patrol vessels and sharks before sliding into the deep.
Only a limited number of fisheries are licensed to harvest a highly circumscribed amount of abalone in South Africa, and the penalties for breaking the law are harsh.
Under no illusion about the dangers of being caught or the effect of depleted stocks on impoverished fishing villages, another poacher, Leon, echoes the line heard from almost all the fishermen: It is simply a question of survival.
“We are just ordinary fishermen struggling to survive, to put food in the pot, to pay school fees, to make a living,” he said, sitting among piles of empty abalone shells strewn across the beach.
FAST AND FURIOUS
On land the silky abalone are “shucked” from their shells before being dried in sheds or suburban garages. They can also be frozen prior to being smuggled out of the country in shipping containers.
Customs officers have intercepted consignments concealed as bedspread covers, plastic pellets or sardines. Some shipments are organized by notorious gangsters in the China-based triad.
“Triads do play a role, but in our experience it is mainly wealthy Asian businessmen who hide illegal activities behind legitimate businesses,” said Lise Potgieter, a member of the South African police’s elite Hawks detective unit.
One of the alleged kingpins, a Chinese national named Ran Wei, had a successful South African crayfish-exporting business before skipping the country in 2010 when associates — including a lawyer and police officers — were nabbed.
An Interpol arrest warrant is out for Wei, the principal suspect in a case being described as the biggest of its kind in South Africa’s history.
Better crime intelligence and a dollop of luck, such as finding a discarded pie receipt in a Porsche Cayenne, has helped authorities close in on previously untouchable syndicate bosses.
In the case of the pie receipt, officers were able to identify a bakery in Hermanus — a poaching hot-spot — in which video footage helped identify a top get-away driver, nicknamed “Fast and Furious” because of his ability to evade capture.
Police estimate that one syndicate will have up to 30 members, from divers to carriers and buyers. More than 100 suspects have been arrested over the past three years.
Those held face charges of racketeering, money laundering and poaching, offenses that can carry jail terms of up to 25 years. For the first time, foreign assets such as companies are also being targeted, investigators say.
“We are cutting off the head of the snake, but there are many snakes in this dirty business,” Potgieter said.
The scale of the plunder is mind-boggling.
In one case, a syndicate poached 50 tonnes in five months, storing the abalone at a disused chicken battery along South Africa’s west coast. The premises were raided after a tip-off to police who caught three suspects.
Another group slipped through 10 shipping containers of contraband before authorities intercepted two more en route to Hong Kong. The contents of one of the seized containers were estimated at US$3.5 million, police said.
EXTINCTION THREAT
Abalone is mainly fished commercially in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Oman and South Africa, where 300 commercial license holders can take no more than 136 tonnes a year between them.
However, wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC estimates the illegal harvest in 2012 was 1,542 tonnes — much more than the local population of the mollusk, which takes nearly a decade to reach maturity, can support.
Government officials say the situation is so desperate they may have to impose a blanket ban on all abalone fishing — both recreational and commercial — to stave off looming extinction.
“We have reached commercial collapse already and if we continue on this path the abalone could become extinct in the wild soon,” said Bernard Liedemann, a senior fisheries official involved in the fight against poaching since the 1990s.
Denmark has consistently defended Greenland in light of US President Donald Trump’s interests and has provided unwavering support to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Denmark can be proud of its clear support for peoples’ democratic right to determine their own future. However, this democratic ideal completely falls apart when it comes to Taiwan — and it raises important questions about Denmark’s commitment to supporting democracies. Taiwan lives under daily military threats from China, which seeks to take over Taiwan, by force if necessary — an annexation that only a very small minority in Taiwan supports. Denmark has given China a
Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on May 13, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that democracies must remain united and that “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism.” Earlier that day, Tsai had met with a group of Danish parliamentarians led by Danish Parliament Speaker Pia Kjaersgaard, who has visited Taiwan many times, most recently in November last year, when she met with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office. Kjaersgaard had told Lai: “I can assure you that ... you can count on us. You can count on our support
Many local news media over the past week have reported on Internet personality Holger Chen’s (陳之漢) first visit to China between Tuesday last week and yesterday, as remarks he made during a live stream have sparked wide discussions and strong criticism across the Taiwan Strait. Chen, better known as Kuan Chang (館長), is a former gang member turned fitness celebrity and businessman. He is known for his live streams, which are full of foul-mouthed and hypermasculine commentary. He had previously spoken out against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and criticized Taiwanese who “enjoy the freedom in Taiwan, but want China’s money”
Last month, two major diplomatic events unfolded in Southeast Asia that suggested subtle shifts in the region’s strategic landscape. The 46th ASEAN Summit and the inaugural ASEAN-Gulf-Cooperation Council (GCC)-China Trilateral Summit in Kuala Lumpur coincided with French President Emmanuel Macron’s high-profile visits to Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore. Together, they highlighted ASEAN’s maturing global posture, deepening regional integration and China’s intensifying efforts to recalibrate its economic diplomacy amid uncertainties posed by the US. The ASEAN summit took place amid rising protectionist policies from the US, notably sweeping tariffs on goods from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, with duties as high as 49 percent.
RSS