By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Border Management Authority (BMA) seized a nearly R1 billion consignment of methaqualone at the Beitbridge port of entry in northern parts of Limpopo.
The Hawks and K9 units were called in, with 713 000 grams of the substance seized at an estimated value of R998 200 000, just under R1 billion.
Three Malawian suspects were arrested and taken to the Musina Police Station, with the Hawks to conduct further investigations.
Addressing a media briefing in Pretoria on Friday, 29 May 2026, Home Affairs Minister Dr Leon Schreiber said the interception was a product of sustained reforms that are steadily rebuilding the country’s capabilities to secure the borders and restore the rule of law.
“The singular breakthrough vividly demonstrates that our investments into intelligence – driven work, modern technology, digital transformation and building a new organisational culture exemplified by Border Management Authority (BMA) personnel is improving in the security environment at our ports of entry,” Schreiber said.
He said for too long organised criminal syndicates treated South Africa’s border posts as a weak point that could be exploited for the trafficking of drugs and illicit goods and undocumented persons and other forms of transnational crimes.
“The interception of the truck is not by accident, it is because of meticulous reform that government is driving every day across BMA and Home Affairs ecosystem, “he said.
BMA Commissioner, Dr Michael Masiapato, explained that the truck was subjected to a non-intrusive inspection using advanced cargo scanning technology.
“Through the vigilance, commitment, and professionalism of our officials and the law enforcement agencies, a drug substance identified as ABBA, also known as methaqualone and commonly used in the manufacturing of mandrax, was discovered concealed within the truck,” Masiapato said.
He said after a thorough search, authorities confirmed that the consignment weighed approximately 713 000 grams, with an estimated street value of R998.2 million.
“The consignment was packed in individual packages, each weighing just over 25kg. This represents one of South Africa’s largest drug busts executed to date since the BMA was established in 2023,” Masiapato said.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the intended destination of the drugs and whether this operation forms part of a broader regional or global criminal syndicate.
“Authorities are also pursuing all available leads to identify the origin of the consignment, the individuals involved in its transportation and coordination and any possible links to transnational organised crime networks,” he said.
This interception represents a decisive intervention against “criminal networks that seek to exploit our ports of entry to undermine the safety, stability and future of our country and the region”.
Masiapato said the authority will not stop until these syndicates are disrupted, dismantled and deprived of every opportunity to operate within the country’s borders.
The commissioner also said that while procedures were tightening at ports of entry, illegal entry into South Africa was still occurring via river crossings and other unguarded parts of the border.
He explained that buses and trucks carrying foreign nationals often met all the paperwork requirements when crossing into the country, but were later found with additional human cargo.
Citing two examples in recent months, he said buses were intercepted in Polokwane and Bloemfontein with vastly more passengers than recorded at the border.
Masiapato stated that the extra passengers were believed to have been picked up on or near the N1 after they had made it back to the main road after crossing into the country at other points.
While the BMA could not patrol every section of the border, the commissioner said it would focus on areas it could control, namely, roadblocks and vehicle scrutiny.
Additionally, the BMA were now going to insist on electronic cross-border permits, as paper documentation was proving to be exploitable. This digitisation was in line with Schreiber’s push to modernise South Africa’s ports of entry.