The head of the United States Africa Command has warned that expanding Mexican cartel activity across Africa, including in South Africa, is increasingly linked to terrorism financing and organised crime networks.
General Dagvin Anderson, who leads the US military’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that drug trafficking organisations are now establishing deeper operational roots on the continent rather than merely using Africa as a transit route.
According to Anderson, the growing presence of cartels in Africa represents a serious international security concern that could destabilise already fragile regions if governments fail to coordinate their response.
“We are watching this develop, and it’s of concern as this fuels both the terrorists and the cartels,” Anderson told lawmakers.
The warning follows several major drug laboratory busts in South Africa involving Mexican nationals and suspected links to the notorious Sinaloa Cartel.
South Africa increasingly linked to cartel drug production
South African authorities have uncovered multiple large-scale drug manufacturing facilities since 2024.
The first major case emerged in July 2024 when police discovered a drug laboratory worth an estimated R2 billion on a farm in Limpopo province. Three Mexican nationals and two South Africans were arrested.
At the time, Hawks head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya suggested that the suspects may have ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Additional drug facilities linked to Mexican suspects were later uncovered in Tshwane, Mpumalanga, and North West province.
The latest case was announced in May 2026 after police discovered a suspected drug manufacturing site worth approximately R1 billion in Swartruggens.
Authorities arrested suspects from Mexico, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
Anderson told US lawmakers that over the past 18 to 24 months, intelligence shared by the United States had helped partner countries identify drug laboratories operating across Africa.
He claimed that Mexican cartel members were found “on site” at 11 of the 12 facilities disrupted during that period.
The AFRICOM commander specifically referenced the large Limpopo drug lab uncovered in 2024, saying suspected Sinaloa Cartel members had been present there.
“They are actually doing production now in Africa as well as the transit of that across the continent,” Anderson said.
According to US intelligence assessments, drugs produced in Africa are allegedly being distributed to Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.
Concerns grow over links between traffickers and terrorists
Anderson also warned that terrorist groups are increasingly benefiting financially from assisting trafficking operations.
He described what he called a “symbiotic relationship” in which drug cartels use local extremist and criminal networks to move narcotics, while militant groups receive funding in return.
The general further pointed to a recent cocaine seizure by Spanish authorities involving approximately 35 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of $1 billion.
Spanish investigators linked the operation to the so-called Mocro Mafia, a transnational criminal network associated with Moroccan organised crime.
The drugs reportedly travelled from South America along the west coast of Africa before being intercepted.
South Africa’s growing role in international trafficking routes comes at a time when the country is also facing a major law enforcement credibility crisis.
Last year, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that a criminal syndicate known as the “Big Five” had infiltrated sections of the country’s criminal justice system, politics, and private security industry.
The allegations triggered investigations, arrests, and suspensions involving several senior police officials.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Madlanga Commission of Inquiry recently heard testimony regarding failures in handling major international drug trafficking cases, including incidents involving cocaine shipments from Brazil.
Security analysts say the convergence of organised crime, corruption, and international trafficking networks could place growing pressure on regional security systems across southern Africa.
Source: Adapted from US Senate testimony, South African police investigations, and Daily Maverick reporting.