A South African court has sentenced a Nigerian man, Victor Udoh, and his accomplice, Vuyisekha Mzwakhe, to a total of 37 years in prison for their roles in a drug trafficking scheme run through social media.
The pair were convicted at the Oudtshoorn Regional Court after prosecutors proved they worked together to move methamphetamine, known locally as tik, across different South African cities.
According to Nova News, Mzwakhe contacted Udoh in 2021 and offered to act as a drug courier. Court documents showed that “Mzwakhe reached out to Udoh via a social media messenger… offering to transport stuff between cities including Plettenberg Bay, Johannesburg, and Durban.”
Udoh reportedly asked whether she understood what she was signing up for, and she confirmed her readiness. The court heard that he later sent money to her account to cover transport from Gqeberha to George and also paid for her stay at a guesthouse.
The plan was for a courier to drop off a parcel at the guesthouse on October 15, 2021. After picking up the package, both suspects checked out and boarded a taxi to Oudtshoorn.
Police, who had received a tip-off, set up a roadblock. Officers searched the taxi and found Mzwakhe holding a box containing 743 grams of methamphetamine worth more than R260,000. They were arrested immediately.
Prosecutor Hyron Goulding told the court that evidence showed Udoh was the mastermind, while Mzwakhe “allowed herself to be used as a drug mule.”
Both defendants pleaded not guilty. Mzwakhe claimed she did not know the parcel contained drugs, while Udoh questioned the legality of the search. The prosecutor, however, proved that police had proper approval for the roadblock and that both suspects agreed to the search.
The court also heard that Udoh had been in South Africa illegally for more than five years after his 2016 asylum request was rejected.
Udoh was sentenced to 22 years in prison, which includes two years for immigration offences. Mzwakhe received 15 years for acting as a willing courier.
The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the ruling, saying “the availability and abuse of drugs is destroying communities, leading to serious violent crimes.”
The judgment comes as reports from India show that 50 Nigerians were recently arrested in a major operation targeting a transnational drug and money-laundering network.
