Inside the smallholding where police found a R100m drug operation
PRETORIA — A suspected R100 million Mandrax manufacturing operation has been uncovered on a smallholding in Erasmia, west of Pretoria, where police say they also discovered a second laboratory apparently being prepared to manufacture crystal methamphetamine.
Two foreign nationals arrested at the property are expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on Friday on charges linked to the alleged manufacture of illicit drugs. The arrests followed a multidisciplinary operation involving the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau, Crime Intelligence, the West Rand K9 Unit and the Pretoria Special Task Force.
According to the Hawks, investigators received information that a drug manufacturing laboratory was operating from the Erasmia smallholding and followed up by visiting the property. Officers allegedly found the suspects manufacturing Mandrax tablets with an estimated value of R100 million.
The discovery became more significant when officers found what police described as another new drug laboratory on the same premises, which they believe was being prepared for the manufacture of crystal meth. The Hawks have not yet disclosed the estimated value of that operation or whether production had begun.
Separate reporting following the raid indicates police believe the Erasmia facility had the capacity to produce as many as 800,000 tablets a day. Deputy National Commissioner for Policing Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili said the operation followed intelligence gathering and formed part of a broader effort to dismantle organised drug manufacturing networks.
The Erasmia discovery is particularly concerning because it follows a series of major clandestine laboratory busts involving farms and smallholdings in different parts of South Africa.
In August, five foreign nationals were arrested after authorities uncovered what the Hawks described as an industrial scale crystal meth laboratory on a farm near Musina in Limpopo. Two Mexican, two Zimbabwean and one Malawian national were arrested after a two month investigation, while drugs and laboratory equipment with an estimated value of R600 million were seized.
Earlier this month, another suspected clandestine laboratory was discovered on a communal farm at Klipvoorstad near Jericho in North West. Police seized raw chemicals and suspected drug manufacturing equipment, while the suspected final product was believed to be methcathinone, commonly known as CAT. A 62 year old South African man was arrested.
The recurring use of farms and smallholdings raises a wider challenge for law enforcement because the operations can conceal industrial drug production away from densely populated areas while providing space for chemicals, equipment and distribution activities.
South African authorities have also been targeting the supply chains feeding the manufacturing operations. In May, law enforcement intercepted approximately 713 kilograms of methaqualone at the Beitbridge border in a consignment government valued at close to R1 billion. Methaqualone is a key substance used in the manufacture of Mandrax.
The Erasmia arrests therefore represent more than another drug possession case. Police allege they have disrupted a manufacturing operation capable of putting large quantities of narcotics into circulation, while the discovery of a second laboratory raises questions about whether the premises was being expanded to produce different drugs.
The two suspects have not been convicted and the allegations against them will now move into the criminal justice process when they appear in court on Friday. Investigators will also have to establish whether other people were connected to the operation and where the drugs allegedly produced at the property were intended to be distributed.
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