For two decades, methamphetamine flowed into South Africa from outside; now the factories are arriving too. Since mid-2024, four industrial-scale laboratories staffed by Mexican cartel chemists have been discovered on remote South African farms, marking a strategic pivot from importation to local production. Nigerian syndicates serve as brokers in this continental arrangement, trading land and logistics for expertise, while communities already ravaged by addiction face a supply chain that is becoming harder to disrupt at its source. The cartels, it seems, have decided Africa is not merely a ma
Mexican Cartels Shift Meth Production to South African Farms
Widespread methamphetamine addiction affecting South African communities, particularly in Cape Town which ranks highest globally in per-capita meth consumption at 929.9mg per 1,000 inhabitants daily.