Africa’s Growing Meth Production Links Local Criminal Networks to Global Cartels

Africa is emerging as an increasingly important hub for methamphetamine production, as international drug cartels expand their operations across the continent. Criminal networks, including Mexican syndicates, are working with local partners to establish industrial-scale laboratories, exploiting weak law enforcement, corruption and established smuggling routes. Nigeria has become a significant production centre, while major laboratory discoveries in South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique point to a widening regional footprint. The shift reflects a change in Africa’s role in the global drug trade: from primarily serving as a transit route to becoming a manufacturing base supplying markets in Europe, Asia and beyond. Cheap production, growing demand and the ability to move operations across borders are making the continent increasingly attractive to organised crime. The expansion raises serious concerns about public health, institutional corruption, regional security and the growing influence of international criminal networks in African economies.