Two Mexicans have been arrested in South Africa after police uncovered a multi-million dollar crystal methamphetamine laboratory in the north of the country. The lab was raided overnight at a farm near the town of Musina, in the Limpopo province, near South Africa’s border with Zimbabwe. Two Zimbabweans and a Malawian national were also arrested.
Police said it followed a two-month investigation into suspicious activities at the farm. Drugs and equipment worth around 600m rand ($37m; £27m) were seized as well as an undisclosed amount of cash.
A number big meth labs on remote farms have been discovered by South African police over the last two years – with several involving Mexican nationals.
In May, police arrested 11 people, including four Mexicans, after uncovering a suspected drug lab worth $6m on a remote farm north-west of Johannesburg.
In September last year, five Mexicans were arrested after police dismantled a crystal meth lab, with drugs worth $20m, on a farm in the east of the country.
In July 2024, three Mexicans were among those arrested at a remote farm in Limpopo province where a crystal meth lab and drugs worth $108m were uncovered.
“The discovery has exposed an alleged sophisticated, industrial-scale operation believed to have been established for the manufacture of dangerous illicit substances destined for distribution,” the police said in a statement.
South Africa is as one of the largest crystal meth consumer markets in the world, according to the 2022 Global State of Harm Reduction report.
The UN says its geography and “porous borders” also make it an ideal transit point for illicit drug.
South Africa is not the only African country where illicit laboratories have been found.
In May this year, Nigeria’s drug enforcement agency said it had “dealt another crippling blow” and dismantled “a highly sophisticated, multi-million-dollar Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine production syndicate”.
The lab at the centre of an ongoing court case was discovered in a dense forested area of the West African nation.
Counter-narcotics officials at the US-Africa Command (Africom) recently told the BBC that since 2023 14 Mexican-operated laboratories had been raided on the continent – found in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa.
Experts believe this indicates criminal cartels in Mexico are increasing using Africa, not just as a trafficking hub, but also as a production base.
By BBC News
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