Two foreign nationals have been arrested after they were allegedly found operating a large-scale clandestine drug manufacturing laboratory in Erasmia, west of Pretoria, which police claim was producing an estimated 800,000 tablets a day.
Deputy National Commissioner for Policing Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili said the arrest was the result of intelligence-led policing and forms part of a broader national crackdown on organised drug syndicates operating across the country.
Intelligence-led operation
Mosikili said South African Police Service (SAPS) had become increasingly concerned about smallholdings and farms being used as bases for illicit drug manufacturing, warning that such properties were no longer safe havens for criminal organisations.
He said Crime Intelligence had been monitoring activities at the Erasmia property for some time before operational teams, working alongside the Hawks, moved in to execute the raid.
“What we have uncovered here is a suspected Mandrax manufacturing laboratory,” Mosikili said, adding that dismantling the facility had disrupted a criminal network capable of flooding communities with hundreds of thousands of tablets every day.
National crackdown on drug networks
Mosikili said the operation was part of an intensified national campaign involving SAPS, the Hawks, Customs and other law enforcement agencies to target every stage of the illicit drug trade.
Rather than waiting for drugs to reach communities, police are focusing on dismantling manufacturing facilities, transportation routes and distribution networks while identifying those who finance organised crime.
He revealed that police had made thousands of drug-related arrests in recent weeks.
During the past week alone, SAPS arrested 3,203 suspects for possession of drugs and a further 273 for dealing in drugs. Over a four-week period, police arrested 9,033 suspects for dealing in drugs and 1,102 for drug possession.
Image: Supplied/ SAPS
Nowhere to hide
Mosikili warned that law enforcement agencies would continue targeting every aspect of the illicit drug trade.
“If you manufacture drugs, we will come for your laboratory. If you transport drugs, we will intercept your consignments. If you distribute drugs, we will arrest you. If you sell drugs in our communities, we will find you. And if you finance or profit from this criminal enterprise, we will follow the money,” he said.
He said drugs continued to devastate communities, particularly young people, by fuelling other forms of crime, destroying families and enriching organised criminal groups.
Mosikili said SAPS would continue strengthening intelligence capabilities and working with its law enforcement partners to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal networks involved in the illicit drug trade.
