A high-speed car chase involving the police and suspected drug dealers led to the arrest of two people in Phuthaditjhaba, the Free State, who are believed to have been operating a multimillion-rand lab, the police say.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said a multi-disciplinary operation led the police to a drug laboratory in two buildings on Lefaso farm in Phuthaditjhaba on Thursday.

Naidoo said upon seeing the police closing in, one suspect fled on foot while another fled in a Toyota Fortuner.

The high-speed chase came to a stop in Warden and a suspect in his 50s was arrested.

The other suspect, a 32-year-old, was also arrested.

“The two buildings that should have been used for farming were instead being used solely for the manufacture of mandrax tablets. 

“While one building was being used to manufacture the finished product, the other was being used for the storage of chemicals and other ingredients as well as for the preparation of the mixture for the making of the tablets,” said Naidoo.

Following the discovery on the farm, teams simultaneously raided two houses in Kiblerpark and Forrest Hill, Johannesburg. 

Both houses have been positively connected to the farm after drugs, chemicals and substantial amounts of cash were found in both houses, Naidoo said.

While the exact value of the operation was difficult to ascertain, Naidoo said “it can be no less than R100m”.

The arrest of the two suspects had brought the number of suspects arrested in connection with these drug operations to 11, he added.