Law Enforcement Marine Unit officers, who were working with the Melkbosstrand Anti-Poaching Unit, disrupted a poaching operation on Thursday.
Divers came out of the water and handed bags containing 132 units of abalone, 80 shucked and 5 unshucked, to carriers on the beach.
The officers closed in but the carriers dropped the bags and ran away.
The recovered abalone was taken to the Melkbos police station.