Five arrested as R600m crystal meth lab dismantled on Musina farm

Five men were arrested after a clandestine crystal methamphetamine laboratory worth an estimated R600 million was raided on a farm in Musina, Limpopo.

Raid and arrests

The operation took place late on Thursday night. Authorities say the raid followed a two-month investigation into drug manufacturing at the farm. Five men aged between 20 and 47 were detained; two are Mexican, two are Zimbabwean and one is Malawian.

Agencies involved and what was seized

The blitz was carried out by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security, alongside the Hawks, SAPS, the South African Narcotics Bureau, Crime Intelligence and the Special Task Force. Officials said drugs and laboratory equipment worth an estimated R600m were seized, along with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Police statements

Hawks spokesman Colonel Avele Fumba said the lab was set up for industrial-scale production.

“This R600 million seizure is not merely a quantity of drugs taken off the streets. It represents the disruption of an entire criminal enterprise,”

said Limpopo Hawks head Major General Gopz Govender.

Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant General Jan Scheepers warned that communities would not be allowed to become markets for syndicates.

“Those who manufacture and distribute these dangerous substances must know that law enforcement is closing in on them,”

Scheepers said.

Scene and next steps

Officers were still working the scene on Friday morning. Photographs released by police show officers in masks and surgical gloves moving through a low structure roofed with corrugated iron and walled with green shade netting. Industrial steel pots, gas cylinders and digital floor scales were visible in the images.

The five suspects are due to appear in the Musina Magistrate’s Court on Monday. They face charges of manufacturing and possessing illicit drugs; more charges may follow.