A farm outside Musina, Limpopo hid a drug operation big enough to flood the country with crystal meth, until Thursday evening.
The Hawks, working with the South African Police Servie (SAPS), Crime Intelligence, the Special Task Force and international partners, including the United States (US) Drug Enforcement Agency and Homeland Security, raided the property late on Thursday. What they found was a full-scale meth factory, dressed up as farmland.
Five men, aged between 20 and 47, are now behind bars. Two are Mexican nationals, two Zimbabweans and one Malawian. Police seized drugs and lab equipment worth an estimated R600 million, plus a stash of cash.
It’s the third clandestine lab Limpopo police have shut down, and the message from the top is blunt. Provincial Hawks boss Major General Gopz Govender said his unit had “struck at the machinery behind the drug trade” and promised the investigation wouldn’t stop at the farm gate.
Govender said:
“We will follow the money, the networks and every person connected to this operation. There will be nowhere to hide.”
SAPS Limpopo Commissioner, Lieutenant General Jan Scheepers backed him up, warning syndicates that the province wouldn’t be turned into their marketplace.
Police spent two months building the case before Thursday’s raid, tracking what they described as an industrial-scale setup built to manufacture drugs for distribution far beyond Musina’s borders.
The five suspects are set to appear in the Musina Magistrate’s Court on Monday, facing charges of manufacturing and possessing illicit drugs. Investigators said more charges, and possibly more arrests, could follow.
READ: Eleven suspects arrested as cops bust drug lab on North West farm
- A large methamphetamine laboratory disguised as a farm was raided outside Musina, Limpopo by the Hawks, SAPS, Crime Intelligence, Special Task Force, and international partners on Thursday evening.
- Five men aged 20 to 47, including two Mexican nationals, two Zimbabweans, and one Malawian, were arrested at the scene.
- Police seized drugs, lab equipment valued at around R600 million, and a stash of cash from the clandestine meth factory.
- This is the third clandestine drug lab shut down by Limpopo police, with investigations to continue targeting associated networks and financiers.
- The five suspects will appear in Musina Magistrate's Court on Monday on charges of manufacturing and possessing illicit drugs, with further charges and arrests possible.
