Hong Kong authorities seized 125kg of cocaine from a Ugandan courier who transited through Ekurhuleni, highlighting the area's role in international drug routes. Former policeman Marius van der Merwe exposed police corruption linked to syndicates before his murder in Brakpan. Recruiters exploit vulnerable individuals, while kingpins evade justice amid systemic failures.
On 24 November 2025, Hong Kong customs officials uncovered 125kg of cocaine, worth at least R177-million, hidden in five suitcases carried by a 42-year-old Ugandan national. The man had journeyed from Uganda through Burundi and Nairobi to a guesthouse in Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg's East Rand metro, known as the 'place of peace.' There, unidentified men supplied the drugs and provided forged diplomatic documents, allowing him to pass unchecked through OR Tambo International Airport. He then flew via Addis Ababa to Hong Kong, where he was shadowed and arrested at a hotel.
Ten days earlier, on 14 November 2025, the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry into police corruption heard from Marius van der Merwe, a former Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department officer testifying as Witness D. He implicated suspended deputy chief Julius Mkhwanazi and others in facilitating crimes like extortion, hijackings, and murder cover-ups for syndicates, including Nigerian groups. Mkhwanazi denies the claims. Van der Merwe, who led a private security team against illegal mining, had earlier in February 2025 described a Nigerian figure called Bham, dubbed the 'King of Lagos Street' in Brakpan, as a major player exchanging drugs for gold.
Van der Merwe was murdered outside his Brakpan home on 5 December 2025, shortly after his testimony. Investigations reveal Ekurhuleni's streets, like Lagos Street on Wenden Avenue, as hubs for recruitment and trade, with small meth labs and open dealing. Australian priest Father John Wotherspoon, who aids imprisoned couriers in Hong Kong, notes many are coerced or tricked, often with promises of jobs. His database tracks arrests from OR Tambo since 2009, including recent cases like Jacqueline Erasmus's 4kg cocaine seizure on 13 December 2025.
Recruiter Primrose Nozuko Ugwa Samane, convicted in 2016 for heroin smuggling but lightly sentenced, continues operations, linked to Bham. Other victims include Marlese Badenhorst, jailed in Nepal in 2022 with 6kg of heroin, and Lee Roy Smith, arrested in Hong Kong in 2023 after being forced to carry 3kg. Syndicates use circuitous routes via Addis Ababa or Dubai, with decentralized networks shielding kingpins. Airports Company South Africa claims effective inter-agency efforts, but experts like Wotherspoon argue collusion persists, leaving couriers as the main targets.
