South African Police have uncovered over the week-end a major crystal methamphetamine laboratory on a farm in Volksrust, seizing an estimated $20 million worth of the drug and arresting five suspects described as being from a North American country.
The raid, which was initiated after a tip-off from a community member reporting a strange chemical smell, also led to the arrest of the farm’s caretaker, who was found with live ammunition.
Police stated that two other suspects, believed to be from West African countries, managed to flee the scene. Photographs from the operation revealed industrial-scale manufacturing equipment and lunch boxes filled with the finished illegal substance.
The bust highlights South Africa’s significant role in the global illicit drug trade, which the UN attributes to its large consumer market and porous borders. Police officials praised the public’s cooperation and emphasized their commitment to intelligence-driven operations aimed at collapsing the drug trade. This discovery follows a similar incident last year, where a remote farm raid resulted in the arrest of two Mexican nationals alongside South Africans, indicating a pattern of international drug syndicates utilizing the country’s rural areas for large-scale manufacturing operations.