A South African court has sentenced a Nigerian man, Victor Udoh, and his South African accomplice, Vuyisekha Mzwakhe, to a combined 37 years in prison for drug trafficking.
According to reports from Nova News, Udoh, 33, received a total of 22 years—20 years for drug dealing and two years for immigration offences. His partner, Mzwakhe, was handed a 15-year sentence for willingly serving as a drug courier.
The case began when Mzwakhe reached out to Udoh via social media, offering herself as a drug mule. Court documents showed that she contacted him asking if he knew any Nigerians involved in moving “stuff” between cities like Johannesburg, Durban, and Plettenberg Bay. Udoh later sent her money for travel from Gqeberha to George, as well as for her accommodation.
Their operation started to unravel on October 15, 2021, when a courier delivered a parcel to a guesthouse in George. After picking up the package, Udoh and Mzwakhe boarded a taxi to Oudtshoorn. Acting on a tip-off, police mounted a roadblock and stopped the taxi. Officers searched the vehicle and discovered Mzwakhe holding a box containing 743 grams of methamphetamine—locally known as “tik”—worth R260,050.
During the trial, the prosecutor, Hyron Goulding, argued that Udoh was the mastermind, while Mzwakhe was a willing accomplice who knowingly took on the role of drug mule. Despite both defendants pleading not guilty, claiming ignorance and challenging the legality of the search, the court found that the police acted with proper authorisation and that both suspects had consented to the search.
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The court also heard that Udoh had been living illegally in South Africa for more than five years after his asylum application was rejected in 2016. Mzwakhe, who was initially granted bail, was later rearrested after failing to appear in court. She spent one year in custody before sentencing, while Udoh had been remanded for five years awaiting trial.
The National Prosecuting Authority welcomed the judgment, noting that the availability of hard drugs continues to fuel violent crime across communities.
Udoh’s sentencing comes at a time when authorities in India recently arrested 50 Nigerians in one of the country’s biggest crackdowns on a transnational drug network linked to trafficking and money laundering.
