Cartel networks are adopting a more hands-on approach to their modus operandi in Africa, marking a new chapter after four decades of facilitating illicit drug flows through the continent to reach destination markets in Europe and North America.
A recently raided methamphetamine production facility in South Africa is the latest in a string of major meth lab busts in Kenya and Nigeria where Mexican chemists were sent on behalf of either the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) to establish greater direct presence and develop local synthetic illicit drug production in Africa.
The increasing involvement of Mexican cartels in Africa’s meth trade is likely a direct effect from the increasing constraints on Latin American production sites and smuggling routes amidst the U.S.-led counternarcotics campaign in the region.
The growing presence of Latin American cartels in Africa raises several risks to local and regional security, with the likely introduction of drone technology to local militant and criminal groups, potential interaction with terrorist organizations, and challenges to governance and law enforcement.
Last week, the South African Police Service (SAPS) Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), widely known as the country’s elite ‘Hawks Unit,’ conducted a raid on a rural farm in Swartruggens, discovering an industrial-scale laboratory that contained over 481 kilos of methamphetamine — estimated to be worth around $61 million. The discovery did not break national records; however, it did confirm a growing trend both in South Africa and across the continent: the involvement of cartel-associated Mexican nationals in local synthetic drug production.
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