Johannesburg – Three Mexicans were arrested with two South Africans when elite police units raided a multi-million dollar crystal meth lab hidden in a remote farm north of Johannesburg, police said on Tuesday.
The owner of the farm near Groblersdal, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Johannesburg, was among four men arrested on Friday, they said.
A third Mexican was picked up on Monday, the spokesperson for the elite Hawks unit told AFP.
“The drugs were obviously intended for local and international sale,” Brigadier Thandi Mbambo told AFP, adding that the manufacturing facility was operating “at a large scale”.
Authorities also seized large quantities of chemicals used to manufacture illicit drugs, including crystal meth and acetone, valued at around two billion rands (more than $100 million), police said.
The Hawks and other specialised units raided the farm in the Limpopo province after a tip-off of suspicious activity there.
Police photographs showed the operation was fairly sophisticated and included large machinery.
South Africa is a major consumer of meth and the market is growing in neighbouring countries and elsewhere in the region, according to a 2021 report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in a 2023 report that South Africa’s geography and porous borders have made it an appealing drug transit location for illicit drugs destined for Asia, Western Europe, North America and Asia.
The country’s ports are believed to regularly receive containers of cocaine that are in transit and do not even land ashore, the drugs agency said.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pixabay
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