South Africa is now one of the biggest markets for meth in the world, and the Mexican cartel is “franchising” in South Africa, moving closer to their users.
This is according to Julian Rademeyer, of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, who said the recent arrest of six people in Mpumalanga highlighted a deeply concerning trend.
Earlier this week, six people appeared in the magistrate’s court in Volksrust, a rural part of Mpumalanga, on charges of running a crystal methamphetamine laboratory.
The police estimate that the project is worth approximately R350 million. The striking thing, however, was that the six people who were arrested, five of them are Mexican nationals.
Rademeyer explained that this case is not an isolated incident. “There have been three incidents in the last few years. One in Limpopo in mid-2024, another in Rietfontein in November 2024, and now this most recent case.”
In order to get an understanding of where we are today, we need to go back a little bit. The use of meth in South Africa, or ‘tik’ as we commonly call it, proliferated from the mid-1990s.
It was very much driven at that stage by suppliers of precursor chemicals to gangs by Chinese networks. The market has since shifted dramatically.
“Over the last decade, we’ve seen a significant shake-up of the tik and meth market in South Africa. While some meth is still produced locally, there are essentially two major strains entering the country,” said Rademeyer.
He explained that one is commonly known by users as Pakistani meth, which originates in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The second is so-called Mexican meth, which has been manufactured in industrial-scale laboratories that Mexican cartels set up in Nigeria, Namibia, and elsewhere.
According to Rademeyer, the current wave of arrests shows a new phase of cartel operations. “What has effectively happened now is franchising. The Mexican nationals are moving closer to their users,” he warned.
Clear and deeply alarming trend
South Africa has one of the largest, if not the largest, consumer markets for crystal meth in the world.
“They’ve begun setting up these industrial-scale facilities on remote farms and in rural communities. This is the same modus operandi they followed in Nigeria, then in Kenya, and now in South Africa.”
The implications are worrying. “In terms of violence, you only need to look at the gang violence that’s currently taking place in the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape, and parts of Gauteng.”
Rademeyer believes much of that is a battle over territory for drug turf. “So I think this is a real concern.” He also noted that the individuals arrested are not ordinary dealers but specialists.
He added that it is very likely in this case, and in the others in South Africa, that the Mexican nationals who have been arrested are scientists sent by some of the cartels—most likely the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel.
These are the biggest groups, and the two that are expanding across numerous countries. The Sinaloa cartel today has roots in more than 50 countries.
Another part of the strategy involves local collaboration. “This franchising that’s taking place—where chemists and scientists from these cartels come to South Africa to train up locals—will expand the market,” said Rademeyer.
“They would need partnerships with local organised crime groups. If you look at the Nigerian model, they teamed up with Nigerian groups, some of which are believed to be involved with the Mexican cartels in South Africa.”
However, they also need distributors, and it makes logical sense for them to use local distributors. Rademeyer explained that they train local nationals, recruit farmers, or utilise individuals with access to plots to provide hidden locations for laboratories.
Rademeyer warned that the pattern is clear and deeply alarming.
“Higher quality meth, expanding local production, collaboration with local syndicates, and the risk of escalating violence—these are all red flags. What we’re seeing is Mexican cartels franchising their operations in South Africa.”
Business Tech
