South Africa police dismantle $20 million crystal meth lab on farm; five arrested

South African police have dismantled a crystal methamphetamine laboratory on a farm in Volksrust, about 225km (140 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, after a raid on Friday. Investigators said the operation yielded drugs valued at about $20 million. Five people described as being from a North American country were arrested at the scene, while two others believed to be from West African countries fled. A farm caretaker was also arrested, and a pellet gun loaded with blanks was seized; the caretaker was found with three live rounds.

Police photographs released by authorities show industrial manufacturing equipment, weighing scales and lunch boxes filled with the illegal drug, underscoring the scale of the operation uncovered on the farm.

The raid comes amid broader concerns about methamphetamine trafficking in South Africa, which, according to a 2022 Global State of Harm Reduction report, has been described as one of the world’s largest crystal meth consumer markets. The report notes that South Africa’s geography and porous borders make it a transit point for illicit drugs, a dynamic the United Nations has cautioned can facilitate cross-border trafficking.

Last year, a similar discovery on a remote farm led to the arrests of two Mexicans and two South Africans, highlighting persistent networks involved in meth production and distribution. The latest case adds to authorities’ ongoing crackdown on synthetic drugs and the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine within the country.

Authorities provided no immediate details on charges or the current status of the five arrestees, and it was not clear whether any of the two individuals who fled had been apprehended since the raid. The case remains under investigation as police review the seized equipment and build a fuller timeline of the operation.