Abalone poaching drives meth drug trade in South Africa
Abalone poaching drives meth drug trade in South Africa
mongabay.com
May 20, 2007
Abalone poaching helps drive the methamphetamine trade in South Africa, reports an article in The Wall Street Journal.
According to South African officials, Chinese firms send South African drug dealers the raw ingredients for methamphetamine in exchange for illegally harvested shellfish.
“Gangs have access to a valuable natural resource, the Haliotis midae species of abalone that teems along South Africa’s coast. Considered a delicacy and an aphrodisiac in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the shellfish can fetch more than $200 a pound in Asian retail markets, according to South African law-enforcement officials,” writes Mark Schoofs.
Gangs organize teams of divers to harvest the protected species from South African waters.
“Divers… can harvest a ton of abalone in as little as a day. That amount can fetch nearly $50,000 from Chinese syndicates known as triads,” he continues. “Triads sometimes barter methamphetamine directly for abalone. The transaction is convenient for both sides and hard to trace because no money is involved.”
Igshaan “Sanie” Davids, a meth dealer interviewed in the article, says he can trade $43,000 worth of abalone for methamphetamine worth $64,000.
“‘For two days more work, I make an extra 150,000 rand,’ or about $21,000,” he is quoting as saying.
Schoofs says the China-South Africa connection “is one example of the unlikely alliances some dealers are making as the methamphetamine trade expands globally.” He reports that worldwide 26 million people, including 1.3 million Americans, use meth and related recreational drugs.
Mark Schoofs (2007). “As Meth Trade Goes Global, South Africa Becomes a Hub” The Wall Street Journal. May 21, 2007