Mexico Drug Cartel Turns South African Farms into Meth Superlab Network

Johannesburg, South Africa – A small court in the mining town of Swartruggens is weighing whether to release five Mexican nationals charged with operating a major drug production facility. The arrests followed a raid on a remote farm in the North West province, where police discovered a methamphetamine lab worth roughly 1 billion rand ($60 million).

This is not an isolated case; it's part of a growing pattern across rural South Africa. The Swartruggens lab is one of four large-scale meth facilities linked to Mexican crime syndicates uncovered in the country in just two years.

In 2024, police dismantled a meth lab valued at $105–110 million near Groblersdal in Limpopo province. Later that year, a $5–6 million facility was discovered near Tshwane, followed by arrests in Mpumalanga. The latest, in May, yielded 481 kg of methamphetamine, precursor chemicals, and firearms. Those detained include Mexican citizens Fabian Astorga, Jesus Alonso Medina Astorga, Luis Alberto Ramirez Rios, Jose Andres Medina, and Jacquelin Lopez Madrid, along with multiple South African accomplices.

All sites share a common signature: remote farmland, far from residential areas, isolated enough to allow covert operations.

Cartels' New Footprint

Investigators note an increasing presence of Mexican operatives working alongside local accomplices in rural production hubs. This marks a strategic shift from shipping meth into Africa to manufacturing it on the continent.

Organized crime researcher Julian Rademeyer says the model reflects a deliberate strategy: “Mexican drug cartel members are franchising—they bring in chemists to remote rural areas and farms.” This playbook has been deployed for over a decade, driven by clear logic: produce closer to consumers, cut transport costs, and reduce exposure to border and maritime controls.

How Far It Spreads

Mexican-linked networks in Africa didn't begin in South Africa. Researchers trace early activity to Nigeria, where local groups began producing meth with Mexican involvement from around 2016. From there, the network diffused into East Africa, across Mozambique and Botswana, before reaching South Africa recently. For years, street users spoke of ‘Mexican meth’ as an imported product. Now cartel chemists are being dispatched directly to South African soil.

The Enabler: Corruption

Methamphetamine dominates South Africa's illegal drug market because cheaper drugs like cocaine and heroin remain out of reach for many users. Crime expert Willem Els says demand is only part of the story: “The main reason local production is so profitable for cartels is the local conditions—protection from corrupt police and politicians.”

A separate commission investigating law enforcement has heard testimony about widespread corruption within the police structure, including missing drug consignments and suspected insider involvement in major cases. In one notorious incident, 541 kg of cocaine seized in 2021 was later stolen from police custody, believed to be an inside job. Former Interpol ambassador Andy Mashiale observed: “It is impossible for police not to know about those labs. Corruption plays a key role.”

South Africa's elite Hawks unit says the recent raids show progress in disrupting networks, with intelligence support from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration linking some suspects to the Sinaloa cartel. Still, investigators warn that the system behind these labs is hard to dismantle.

Always Moving

Officials from the U.S. Africa Command have warned that Mexican cartels are not just shipping drugs across Africa but producing them on the continent. For South Africa, the challenge now extends beyond border control to institutional capacity, intelligence, and corruption within law enforcement. Without deep reform, experts predict the trend will continue: new farms, new labs, and new chemists quietly arriving in rural provinces.

For the five men in Swartruggens, the immediate question is whether they will be granted bail. For South Africa, the larger, more intractable question is how to stop a drug industry that no longer merely crosses its borders but has taken root deep within the country. As Rademeyer put it: “It’s a whack-a-mole game. You seize a meth lab here, you seize one there. They will pop up somewhere else.”