A SUSPECTED cycad smuggler was arrested by Lieutenant-Colonel Zandra Wiid and Warrant Officer Marc Wiid in Port Shepstone last Thursday.
The two could not believe their eyes when they saw a man pushing a trolley which contained four cycads with beautiful green leaves hanging over the sides of the trolley.
Lieutenant-Colonel Wiid called for back-up.
“The 27-year-old man, from the Izingolweni area, said he brought the protected plants in a rural village in that area in order to sell it to a certain person,” said Lt-Col Wiid.
“He claimed that he transported them in a taxi and then asked a trolley pusher to help him take the plants into Port Shepstone. He alleged that he was totally unaware that a permit was needed to be in possession or even transport the plants,” said Lt-Col Wiid.
Piet Massyn, from KZN Ezemvelo Wildlife, was summoned and charged the man for being in possession of protected plants without a permit, Act 10/2004 section 56(d). The estimated value of the plants is about R20 000. The man appeared in the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court last Friday and the case was postponed for further investigation.
Police have warned that it is illegal to remove protected plants from their natural habitat and sell them.
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