A Nigerian man, Victor Udoh, and his female accomplice, Vuyisekha Mzwakhe, will spend a combined 37 years in prison after a South African court found them guilty of drug trafficking.

PUNCH Metro learnt on Tuesday from Nova News, a South Africa–based online news outlet, that the 33-year-old Nigerian and his South African partner were convicted for orchestrating their drug-running operations through social media.

While Mzwakhe received 15 years for her role as a willing drug courier, according to the report, the Oudtshoorn Regional Court sentenced Udoh to 22 years—20 years for drug dealing and an additional two years for immigration violations.

The case, the report noted, began when “Mzwakhe voluntarily contacted Udoh through social media, offering her services as a drug mule to transport narcotics across South Africa.”

Court proceedings revealed that “Mzwakhe reached out to Udoh via a social media messenger, asking if he knew any Nigerians in Oudtshoorn and offering to transport ‘stuff’ between cities, including Plettenberg Bay, Johannesburg, and Durban.”

When Udoh asked if she understood what she was getting involved in, Mzwakhe reportedly confirmed her willingness.

The report added that Udoh subsequently deposited money into her bank account to cover her travel from Gqeberha to George and her accommodation expenses.

The plan, according to Nova News, involved a guesthouse in George, where a courier delivered a parcel on 15 October 2021.

After collecting the package, the report added that both suspects checked out and boarded a taxi to Oudtshoorn.

While acting on a tip-off about the couple in the taxi, the report noted that the police set up a roadblock and stopped the vehicle.

The officers reportedly searched the taxi and found Mzwakhe holding a box containing 743 grams of methamphetamine, popularly known as ‘tik’, with a street value of R260,050, before they were arrested on the spot.

During the trial, the report disclosed that the regional court prosecutor, Hyron Goulding, argued that the evidence clearly established Udoh as the mastermind, while Mzwakhe was a “willing participant” who “allowed herself to be used as a drug mule.”

Despite both defendants pleading not guilty, Mzwakhe claiming she did not know the parcel contained drugs, and Udoh challenging the legality of the search, the report disclosed that the prosecutor demonstrated that police had proper authorisation for the roadblock and that the suspects consented to the search.

The court also heard that Udoh had been living illegally in South Africa for more than five years after his 2016 asylum application was rejected by the Department of Home Affairs.

While Mzwakhe was initially granted bail, she was later rearrested after failing to appear in court, spending one year in custody before sentencing. Udoh, whose bail application was denied, spent five years in prison awaiting trial.

The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the verdict, noting that “the availability and abuse of drugs is destroying communities, leading to serious violent crimes.”

Udoh’s sentencing coincided with reports that 50 Nigerians were recently arrested in one of India’s largest coordinated crackdowns on a transnational narcotics network.

The suspects were believed to be connected to a vast drug-distribution and hawala money-laundering syndicate operating across several major Indian cities. (PUNCH)