Laboratories on farms near Swartruggens, about 175 km north of Johannesburg, are producing meth at a scale of roughly five tonnes per month, indicating industrial-strength operations.

The network spans continents, with South Africa acting as a production hub and Australia serving as a major consumer market for the cartel’s methamphetamine operations.

The operation recruits local farmers or leases rural spaces and emphasizes discretion by operating away from urban areas to avoid law enforcement attention.

In a nine-month timeline, arrests of lab operators in Johannesburg occurred in June and trials followed in September, highlighting ongoing legal actions.

Over the past two years, six similar labs have been uncovered in South Africa, all following a pattern of hidden facilities on isolated farms leased from struggling farmers.

Mexican cartel de Sinaloa reportedly dispatched chemists to South Africa to establish meth labs, challenging earlier explanations given to immigration officials in Johannesburg.

The primary aim of these labs is to supply methamphetamine to the Australian market, one of the most lucrative destinations for the drug.