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All case files · Case file 08

The outbound vector

Lagos, Nigeria — shipped from OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa · February 2024

The record

Where
Lagos, Nigeria — shipped from OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa
When
February 2024
Quantity
52 kg
  • 52 kg heroin
Agencies
SAPS
Map of the Southern Route: from the Makran coast across the Indian Ocean to Tanzania and Mozambique, then by road and air into South Africa; the Atlantic cocaine vector; the outbound air vector to West Africa.The Lebombo corridor file — Badplaas, Mpumalanga, South Africa, 16 July 2023The region’s largest recorded seizure — Tanzania, 12–22 December 2023The Limpopo intercept — Limpopo, South Africa, 1 January 2024The Vilankulo seizure — Vilankulo, Mozambique, 5 March 2024The Delmas load — Delmas, South Africa, 10 October 2024The Beira landfall — Beira, Mozambique, 21 February 2025The false compartment — Lomahasha Border Post, Eswatini, 17–18 July 2025The outbound vector — Lagos, Nigeria — shipped from OR Tambo International Airport, South Africa, February 2024TPC headquarters — MaputoTANZANIAMOZAMBIQUESOUTH AFRICAMAKRAN COAST
On the route: Lagos

Five beats

How the case moved

The five beats of the public narrative. Agencies named; persons never.

  1. Intelligence shared

    February 2024: 52 kg of heroin is intercepted in Lagos, Nigeria, shipped from OR Tambo International Airport.

  2. Movement tracked

    South Africa is confirmed as an outbound platform — consignments leave through its airports.

  3. The network followed

    June 2025, Tshwane Police Academy: a TPC technical meeting with SARPCCO, EAPCCO, UNODC, EUROPOL and INTERPOL, supported by EU-ACT, analyses the West African syndicates operating inside the corridor.

Outcome

The technical response of June 2025 — the corridor’s outbound vector placed on the regional agenda.

Gallery

Evidence

From the TPC’s public presentation. Faces are pixelated; plates, documents and signage are blurred. The redaction is the message.

No imagery is published for this file.

Next step

The network behind the record

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