South African authorities have detained five foreign nationals following the discovery of a large-scale crystal methamphetamine production facility on a farm close to Musina, in Limpopo Province.
The suspects include two Mexican citizens, two Zimbabweans and one Malawian.
The property, located near the Zimbabwean frontier, was searched during an overnight police operation after investigators spent about eight weeks monitoring unusual activity at the site.
Authorities said narcotics, machinery and other materials estimated at 600 million rand ($37 million; £27 million) were recovered, alongside an undisclosed quantity of money.
Police described the facility as a highly developed industrial operation allegedly set up to manufacture synthetic drugs for wider distribution.
The latest raid adds to a growing number of clandestine methamphetamine facilities discovered on isolated South African farms, with Mexican nationals repeatedly featuring among those arrested.
In May, 11 suspects, including four Mexicans, were apprehended after investigators found a suspected $6 million drug-manufacturing site on a farm north-west of Johannesburg.
Last September, South African authorities detained five Mexican nationals following the dismantling of another methamphetamine facility in the eastern part of the country.
Drugs estimated at $20 million were reportedly found there.
Earlier, in July 2024, three Mexicans were among suspects taken into custody after law enforcement uncovered a meth laboratory and narcotics valued at about $108 million at a secluded property in Limpopo.
The five people arrested in the latest operation are due before a court on Monday, where they will face allegations involving the production and possession of prohibited narcotics.
South Africa remains a significant market for crystal methamphetamine, according to the 2022 Global State of Harm Reduction report.
Its location, combined with relatively weak controls along some borders, has also made the country an important route for international drug trafficking, according to the United Nations.
The emergence of clandestine laboratories is not limited to South Africa.
In May, Nigeria’s drug enforcement authorities announced the dismantling of what they described as a sophisticated Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine network operating in a heavily wooded area.
US Africa Command counter-narcotics officials recently told the BBC that 14 laboratories allegedly operated by Mexican nationals have been raided across Africa since 2023.
The facilities were located in South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeria.
Security analysts say the pattern could signal a broader strategy by Mexican criminal organisations to expand their activities across Africa, using the continent not only for moving narcotics but increasingly for manufacturing them locally.
By: Magdalene Agyeiwaa Sarpong