Erasmia drug bust uncovers R100m Mandrax operation

Police have uncovered a massive drug manufacturing operation at a smallholding in Erasmia, west of Pretoria. During a multidisciplinary raid involving the Hawks’ South African Narcotics Enforcement Bureau and the South African Police Service, authorities discovered a laboratory allegedly producing Mandrax tablets with an estimated value of R100 million.

Investigators report the facility had the capacity to produce approximately 800,000 tablets per day. Additionally, officers found a second laboratory on the premises that was reportedly being prepared for the manufacture of crystal methamphetamine.

Two foreign nationals in their late thirties were arrested at the scene and are expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court. Deputy National Commissioner for Policing Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili described the bust as a major blow to large-scale criminal syndicates and the illicit drug supply chain in South Africa.