South Africa jails two Chinese nationals for abalone poaching

South African authorities jailed two Chinese nationals caught with over US$60,000 worth of illegally fished abalone, a coveted delicacy smuggled mainly to Asia, police said Wednesday.

Poachers have been stripping South Africa’s coasts of the much sought-after sea snail, which is protected by strict fishing quotas.

Investigators have been cracking down on abalone trafficking networks, many of which are run by Chinese criminal syndicates.

Two Chinese nationals, Feng Zhu and Zhou Wangfeng, were sentenced to two years in prison this week for abalone poaching, South Africa’s elite police unit, the Hawks, said in a statement on Wednesday.

A Malawian national, Richard Rayson, was also handed a one-year prison sentence.