Police bust third crystal meth lab since May
South African police have uncovered a crystal meth laboratory on a remote farm about 200 kilometres north of Johannesburg. The overnight raid followed reports from local residents about suspicious activity and a strong smell.
South African police uncovered a crystal meth lab hidden on a remote farm, they said Thursday, in the third such operation in less than four months.
The overnight bust follows similar raids last month and in May in which Mexican nationals suspected of links to Latin American drugs cartels were arrested.
Police swooped on the farm about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Johannesburg after local people reported suspicious activities and a strong, unpleasant smell, police said.
They found equipment and materials suspected to have been used in the manufacturing of drugs and arrested a 62-year-old, they said.
The suspect was renting the property, police said, without giving details.
"Preliminary investigations established that the operation was involved in the manufacturing of crystal methamphetamine," they said in a statement.
"We found very expensive equipment like washing machines... that have been bought recently," North West police chief Arthur Peter Adams said.
"That is an indication that whoever is funding this is a person with very deep pockets."
Police in May uncovered a multi-million-dollar methamphetamine laboratory and arrested 11 suspects, including four Mexicans, on a remote farm northwest of Johannesburg.
In August, they uncovered a crystal meth laboratory on the border with Zimbabwe and rounded up several foreign nationals including two Mexicans.
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime said in a July 2025 report that such laboratories supply international markets at a time of rising demand for cocaine and methamphetamine in Australia and New Zealand, where retail prices for both drugs are among the highest in the world.
The Swiss-based NGO added that strong legitimate trade flows between South Africa and Australia "may also contribute to the growth of this route" for methamphetamine trafficking.
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