ON NOVEMBER 14, the South African Police Service (SAPS) uncovered a major drug laboratory at Lefaso farm in Phuthaditjhaba in the Free State, worth millions of Rands.
It was subsequently revealed that the operation had links to two houses in the south of Johannesburg.
During a multi-disciplinary intelligence-driven operation member of the SAPS Crime Intelligence, Crime Detection and the Hawks descended on two buildings on the Lefaso farm. Upon seeing the police, the suspects fled in a Toyota Fortuner and another on foot.
A high-speed chase between the police and the Fortuner ensued from the farm and the suspect’s vehicle was eventually stopped at Warden and a suspect in his 50’s was arrested.
While this was happening, a 32-year-old suspect was pursued on foot and also arrested.
The two buildings, which should have been used for farming, were instead being used solely for the manufacturing of Mandrax tablets.
While one building was being used to manufacture the finished product, the other was being used for the storage of chemicals and other ingredients, as well as for the preparation of the mixture for the making of the tablets.
Following the discovery on the farm, team’s simultaneously raided two houses, one in Kibler Park and the other in Forest Hill, South of Johannesburg.
Both houses have been positively connected to the farm after drugs, chemicals and substantial amounts of money were found in both houses.
Over and above this, all of the people linked to the farm and the houses share the same surname.
While it’s difficult to put a value to a drug manufacturing laboratory, with all the contents, chemicals and machinery one can estimate the operation to be no less than R100-million.
The operations stem from arrests and recoveries made in Middleburg in the Mpumalanga Province as well as Diepkloof in Soweto.
The arrest of the latest two suspects brings the number of suspects arrested in connection with all of these drug operations to 11.
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