Cape Town [South Africa], July 21 : Four people, including two citizens of Mexico, were taken into custody by South African police after they found a drug manufacturing lab worth millions of dollars located on a farm in the north of the country, according to CNN.
Following intelligence that suspicious activity was occurring at the property, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, also known as Hawks, searched the Groblersdal property, according to a statement from SAPS.
Large amounts of chemicals needed to create illegal substances, such as crystal meth and acetone, were discovered by police after examining four buildings on the property.
These chemicals are estimated to be worth USD 2 billion on the black market (USD109.4 million).
It's unclear if the drugs that were found were meant for export or the South African market.
In order to learn more about the issue and the supposed Mexicans involved, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that its mission in South Africa had "not received the respective consular notification" and was in contact with local authorities.
According to the police service, the suspects are scheduled to appear in Groblersdal Magistrate's court on Monday to respond to allegations of producing, distributing, and having illegal drugs.
Earlier in January, the police had confirmed the closure of 131 drug labs across the country since 2019, according to CNN.
According to a 2021 report by researchers at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, South Africa is dubbed as potentially one of the "largest meth consumer markets in the world."
Additionally, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) called it "an attractive drug transit country" last year, according to CNN.
The UNODC stated that the country's expanding synthetic drug market to its "porous borders," topography, and connections to other trading nations.According to a 2021 assessment by researchers at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, South Africa has the potential to be one of the "largest meth consumer markets in the world."
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