Acquitted: three Chinese nationals escape legal clutches in R100-million perlemoen smuggling case

Daily Maverick

01-07-2025

Cold storage, pig stomachs and 40 tons of perlemoen weren't enough to land convictions in one of South Africa's biggest marine smuggling cases. On Tuesday, the accused walked — and the State was left empty-handed.
Despite a four-year investigation, multiple arrests and more than 40 tons of confiscated illegal perlemoen, three Chinese nationals accused of running a R100-million abalone smuggling racket were acquitted on all charges in the Gqeberha Division of the High Court on Monday, 30 June 2025.
In 2018, the Hawks intercepted shipping containers filled with perlemoen in the port of Port Elizabeth. These were quickly linked to several other containers in the Northern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, forming what investigators believed was a strong case against the owners of a Cape Town-based seafood import company.
About 40 tons of perlemoen, found hidden in tripe and pig stomachs in cold storage containers, were allegedly linked back to Blue Fin Marine Trading, owned by husband and wife Kai Ou Yang and Hsien-Chu Ou Yang, along with the manager of the company, the wife's younger brother Chu-Kai Peter Chang.
However, on Monday Judge Fungile Dotwana found the State had not linked any of the accused directly to the alleged racket, and acquitted them on all charges against them.
'None of the three accused were proven to be in physical possession of perlemoen… and they vehemently denied any involvement in the illicit perlemoen trade.
'Looking at the totality of the evidence, the State has failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt,' Dotwana said before excusing the accused from the dock.
A trail of containers and cold storage facilities
The case before court centred around the activities of Blue Fin, a company founded in 2005 that supplied restaurants and supermarkets in and around Cape Town with imported seafood.
It was alleged that the company experienced some financial difficulties and looked for avenues to expand its business. One such option was to export beef and other meat products from South Africa to various ports around the world.
However, the State alleged that this was little more than a ruse to cover the illegal export of perlemoen. After receiving information that led to the initial discovery in Gqeberha of 158 boxes of perlemoen hidden among pig stomachs in a container linked back to Blue Fin, the Hawks' investigation attempted to connect the dots between this container and several others across the country.
In February 2017 two illegal perlemoen processing facilities in Cape Town were added to the list. In Killarney 28,733 units of perlemoen were recovered, and in Montague Gardens a further 12,266 units were found.
Two weeks later, three tons of perlemoen were found in a cold storage facility in Cape Town. The pallets containing the perlemoen allegedly belonged to Blue Fin.
Besides the initial bust in Gqeberha, three more containers were intercepted in 2018. Nine tons of perlemoen were found in containers in the Durban harbour, while another 900 boxes of tripe, with perlemoen hidden inside, were found in the Port of Port Elizabeth.
The Hawks tailed the final container from a storage facility in Cape Town, following it all the way into the Northern Cape where it broke down about 30km from the town of Springbok. There the container was seized and more than 340kg of perlemoen found inside.
Boxes relabelled, but links remain unclear
Witnesses before court testified how boxes belonging to Blue Fin were brought to cold storage facilities in Cape Town, taken away by trucks, and returned shortly thereafter with new labels and stickers.
Employees at these facilities assisted the Hawks in their investigation, and positively identified boxes labeled to contain 'meaty bones' as the ones containing illegal perlemoen.
In their defence, all three accused denied any knowledge or involvement in the illegal perlemoen trade.
While several individuals, including truck drivers and employees of Blue Fin, were arrested and convicted of activities related to the illegal trade and transport of perlemoen since 2017, Judge Dotwana found that none of the evidence presented to the court directly tied the owners or the manager to the illicit activities.
The accused were represented by Advocate Michael Hulley, who has previously represented former president Jacob Zuma. After proceedings the newly acquitted individuals quickly filed out of the dock and left the court building.
When asked if they would like to give any comment on the judgment, Hulley declined on behalf of his clients. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said it would consider reviewing the judgment.
'The NPA has noted the judgment in which three Chinese nationals were acquitted in a R100m perlemoen racketeering case. We will study the judgment carefully and consider possible legal avenues to take,' said NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali. DM