A 38-year-old Zimbabwean national has been arrested after police recovered 151 protected cycads worth an estimated R1.5 million during a late-night operation near Kariega in the Eastern Cape.
According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), members of the Kariega Stock Theft and Endangered Species Unit acted on information from a local farmer who reported seeing several suspects removing protected cycads from a farm on Monday, 29 June.
Police launched an observation and waylay operation along the R75 while the farmer monitored the suspects from a distance. At around 11:30pm, officers spotted a suspicious vehicle stopping near where the cycads had been hidden earlier in the day.
As police approached, the vehicle drove off before suddenly pulling over. Two occupants fled into nearby bushes, while the driver was arrested at the scene. The two other suspects remain on the run.
Officers recovered 151 protected cycads of various sizes, estimated to be worth R1.5 million, and seized a Mazda BT-50 bakkie valued at about R100,000, believed to have been used in the crime, along with a Samsung cellphone.
The suspect is expected to appear in the Kariega Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 2 July 2026, on a charge of unlawful possession of protected cycads in contravention of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA).
Police said investigations are continuing to locate and arrest the two outstanding suspects.
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