The 5 Musina farm suspects will seem in court docket on Monday to face costs relating to the manufacture and possession of illicit medication.

“The discovery has exposed an alleged sophisticated, industrial-scale operation believed to have been established for the manufacture of dangerous illicit substances destined for distribution,” the police said in a assertion.

South Africa is as one of the largest crystal meth shopper markets in the world, according to the 2022 Global State of Harm Reduction report.

The UN says its geography and “porous borders” also make it an splendid transit level for illicit drug.

South Africa is not the only African nation where illicit laboratories have been discovered.

In May this yr, Nigeria’s drug enforcement company said it had “dealt another crippling blow” and dismantled “a highly sophisticated, multi-million-dollar Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine production syndicate”.

The lab at the centre of an ongoing court docket case was found in a dense forested space of the West African nation.

Counter-narcotics officers at the US-Africa Command (Africom) not too long ago informed the BBC that since 2023 14 Mexican-operated laboratories had been raided on the continent – discovered in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa.

Experts believe this signifies legal cartels in Mexico are growing utilizing Africa, not just as a trafficking hub, but also as a manufacturing base.