South Africa: a New Node in the Global Illicit Drug System | Orion Policy Institute
Mexican-linked methamphetamine production has emerged in Africa, reports Rafaella Lipschitz of the Orion Policy Institute. And “South Africa has become a significant node in that expansion.”
Several structural factors are key to this development, not the least of which is the country’s geographical positioning between Latin America, Europe and Asia. Lipschitz’s August 5th report “Mexican Cartels and South Africa’s Shift to Meth Production” analyzes the how and the why in this story. In this Discourse we summarize her findings and implications for US security
Scaling Production
South Africa used to be primarily a transit point for narcotics of Latin American origin. Local production certainly existed, but it was minimal, according to reporting. Today, that picture is different. A series of recent lab busts indicates that a large-scale production economy has taken root.
Ties to Mexico
But that’s not all. These raids uncovered the presence of Mexican nationals at all the sites, likely pointing to Cartel involvement. Indeed, the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) are cited as having a presence in South Africa. Others likely do too. Lipschitz assesses that these recent arrests of Mexicans indicate a sophisticated knowledge exchange across the Atlantic. We knew that the Cartel problem is transnational. We know now– if we didn’t before– that it’s global.
Why South Africa?
Why? We’ve established that it’s a good waypoint between profitable markets. Here are some other reasons.
- Diversifying production markets as a result of pressure in the Western hemisphere. Like regular supply chains, it’s a business survivability tactic.
- China is geographically closer, making access to source materials simpler.
- Pre-existing criminal networks in the country make starting up activities easier.
- A culture of corruption.
Implications
Lipschitz is correct in her assessment of the main implications for US security. She describes South Africa’s role as a narcotics production hub as:
- “[Undermining] American counternarcotics strategy,
- [opening] alternative revenue streams for adversarial actors, and
- [weakening’ a state whose stability remains a U.S. strategic interest.”
We’d add a few other thoughts.
As Lipschitz mentions, African illicit drug operations are not confined to South Africa. A presence in Mozambique and Nigeria, to name a few, already exists.
Second, China’s role here should not be taken lightly. The spread of drug production allows it to continue to foster a destabilizing transnational enterprise from a position of extra separation. Countering its passive support (or let-it-happen policies, if you prefer) becomes that much harder when spread to countries outside of Latin America.
South Africa’s role as (at least traditionally) a US partner makes this trickier. US counternarcotics policy was not designed to address nodes outside of its American neighborhood; the introduction of a new link in the narcotics network further afield– within a politic that is (at least before the present administration) ostensibly a strategic partner– will require a rethinking of that policy.
