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SA police arrest five people in drug bust
Police in South Africa have arrested five people for allegedly operating a multimillion-dollar crystal methamphetamine manufacturing operation on a farm in Limpopo province.
During the operation, they confiscated drugs and laboratory equipment with an estimated street value of over US$37 million, as well as an undisclosed amount of cash.
Officials say the suspects, aged between 20 and 47, comprise two Mexican nationals, two Zimbabweans and a Malawian.
The overnight raid follows a series of drug busts over the past months involving Mexican nationals, leading the authorities to suspect Latin American cartels are expanding into Africa.
Limpopo’s head of the Hawks, a priority crime investigation branch of the police, said the operation would send a clear warning to organised criminal networks.
The suspects are due to appear in the Musina Magistrates’ Court tomorrow to face charges linked to the manufacture and possession of illicit drugs.
South Africa is a major consumer of meth and the market for the drug is growing in neighbouring countries, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime.
In a 2025 report, the agency said drug labs in South Africa and Mozambique “are emblematic of the expansion of Latin American cartels into Africa and cooperation with local criminal groups”. — Africa News
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Zambian police summon opposition leader after disputed vote
Zambian police summoned opposition leader Brian Mundubile late on Thursday for questioning over an alleged national security threat, days after an election marked by a crackdown on dissent.
Mundubile finished second in the August 13 vote that handed President Hakainde Hichilema a second term and has vowed to challenge the results in court.
A joint team has “been carrying out investigations for the past few years relating to serious national security threats” and wanted to question Mundubile and his running mate, Makebi Zulu, a police statement said.
It did not specify the nature of the threats but said “alarming activities” that had the potential to undermine national security had occurred at premises linked to the pair.
Mundubile and Zulu have rejected police suggestions that their alliance was involved in insurgency or militia activity.
Mundubile recently went into hiding with an international human rights organisation after police raided his home in the capital, Lusaka.
A former Cabinet minister, Mutotwe Kafwaya, was shot and killed during the August 14 operation when 11 people, including key opposition figures, were arrested on allegations of offences related to treason.
On Thursday, immigration officials said they had arrested the secretary-general of the opposition alliance.
Amnesty International on Thursday warned of a growing crackdown on peaceful dissent and called on the authorities to immediately end the arbitrary arrest and detention of opposition members. — AFP
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China rejects US demand on Iran
China has refused to join a United States plan to “squash” Iran’s economy, rejecting Washington’s push to be part of the “toughest sanctions in history” against the Islamic Republic.
On Thursday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on American allies and other countries to choose sides and stop doing business with Iran, as Washington prepares what he touted as “the greatest coordinated economic isolation in the history of the world”.
In an interview with CNBC, Bessent described the plan, expected to be unveiled tomorrow, as “a one-two punch” combining a naval blockade with “the toughest sanctions in history”. He claimed it would “squash” the Iranian economy and “collapse this regime”.
Beijing, however, has rejected Washington’s call.
Bessent’s remarks followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Wednesday of what he called an “economic D-Day” against Tehran, threatening “tremendous economic consequences” against countries providing Iran with “any type of lifeline”.
China has also rejected that threat.
In response to a question by Bloomberg on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said “sanctions and pressure tactics are not the solution” and called for a “political and diplomatic approach”. — RT
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has also dismissed the threat.
“Doubling down on failed policies will only bring further defeat,” Araghchi wrote on X on Thursday.
“US economic terrorism threatens global economy and sovereignty worldwide.”
China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, having purchased more than 80 percent of the country’s shipped crude in 2025, according to Kpler data cited by Reuters.
Bessent argued that Beijing has a strong interest in cooperating with US sanctions because of its reliance on energy supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming China gets “50 percent (of their) energy from inside the Gulf”.
China’s energy supplies, however, are considerably more diversified.
According to AFP, China imported 36 percent of its crude from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq in 2025, while also buying large quantities from producers outside the Gulf, notably Russia.
Around 30 percent of China’s LNG imports came through Hormuz in 2025, but Beijing also sources LNG elsewhere and receives substantial pipeline gas from Russia and Central Asia. – RT
