Mo Ash∞/89

We design cars, not miracles… but noted. 😉

Dear Prime Minister Ambani, Please accept my humble apologies for not realizing that you are the real boss of India. Naturally, you would prefer to maintain your monopolistic exploitation of the great people of India, but would you nonetheless consider allowing Starlink to compete? There are many areas of India, as there are in all countries, with no Internet access, which denies children the opportunity for education and for small businesses the opportunity to sell their goods to a global market. Starlink would change their lives for the better. Thank you 🙏

Funny... No one is talking about it yet its above RH :)

The Mexican “super labs” phenomenon in South Africa refers to a calculated operational shift by powerful Latin American syndicates - primarily the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Rather than treating South Africa merely as a transit shipping lane, these cartels have transitioned to a "franchise manufacturing” model. They fly Mexican chemists and workers into the country on short-term tourist visas to manufacture synthetic drugs locally. July 2024: (Groblersdal, Limpopo) The South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Hawks raided an industrial-scale farm facility and discovered massive quantities of precursor chemicals and meth valued at an estimated R2 billion ($121 million). Five individuals were arrested, including two Mexican nationals. November 2024 (Tshwane, Gauteng): A raid in Rietfontein, Tshwane, exposed a smaller but highly advanced lab valued at R100 million ($6.5 million), resulting in the arrest of a Mexican national. September 2025 (Volksrust, Mpumalanga): Heavily armed units raided an active facility near the Mpumalanga border. Police seized equipment and meth valued at roughly R350 million ($20 million), detaining five Mexican nationals and one South African. May 2026 (Swartruggens, North West): Marking the largest cartel operation dismantled to date, authorities raided a secluded game farm located close to the N4 national highway. Police seized 481 kilograms of pure methamphetamine and industrial equipment valued at over R1 billion ($60.5 million). Eleven suspects were arrested, including five Mexican chemists, alongside South African, Mozambican, and Zimbabwean accomplices. A “super lab" is an illicit drug manufacturing facility capable of producing 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) or more of a drug per production cycle. These super labs uncovered across South Africa focus overwhelmingly on manufacturing Ultra-Pure Crystal Methamphetamine. Locally it is known as "Tik". The primary target markets are local, Australia and New Zealand. These countries represent the most lucrative methamphetamine markets on earth. Because of geographic isolation and strict border security, the street price of crystal meth in Australia can be 65 to 100 times higher than what it sells for in the United States. Shipping drugs directly from South America or Mexico to Australia triggers immediate, high-alert screening by Customs. However, by manufacturing the drugs inside South Africa and hiding the product inside legitimate commercial cargo leaving the Port of Durban or Johannesburg's airports, the cartels drastically lower their risk profile. The Mexican cartels did not build these networks from scratch. They leveraged a supply chain pipeline that has been creeping through the African continent since roughly 2016. The “franchise model” originally took root in Nigeria, trickled down through East Africa, and pushed into Mozambique and Botswana before consolidating in South Africa. 
Several subtle, telltale signs signaled that the Sinaloa Cartel was active in the region. The absolute first physical indicator of a cartel-style setup occurred in 2020 in the farming town of Marble Hall. Police raided a facility that bore all the unique operational hallmarks of a Mexican lab. Before building synthetic drug factories, the cartels infiltrated South Africa's maritime trade. In June 2021, authorities seized a R200-million cocaine consignment at the Port of Durban. The packages were stamped with a "Jaguar" logo, a specific brand signature used by a prominent, jailed leader of the Sinaloa cartel. Historically, South African drug cooks used pseudoephedrine to make low-grade "Tik". Suddenly, street samples revealed the Phenyl-2-propanone chemical method - a highly pure synthesis signature entirely unique to Mexican cartel industrial engineering.
 Tik costs between R10 and R50 per single-use "baggie" or straw on the South African street market, though prices vary by region and purity.