RUTHLESS.

He seduced her, married her and recruited her to be his drug mule.

It was a cold and calculated strategy.

Even after she bore him a child, he heartlessly abandoned them the moment he sensed trouble.

In March, The New Paper reported how one Nigerian recruiter married one of his mules here, a Malay Singaporean.

Last month, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) revealed that the man had fathered a child with the woman.

This year alone, Superintendent Alan, 54, (not his real name as CNB officers cannot be identified) has interviewed more than 10 local women who had fallen prey to West African Casanovas.

The 33-year veteran with the CNB said: 'One of the Nigerian syndicate leaders fathered a child with a Malay woman here and he abandoned them.'

Supt Alan said that after they got married, he made her smuggle heroin to China, where she was arrested at the beginning of this year.

The man also made one of his mistresses here, another Malay woman, smuggle Ice a month later. The drugs were meant for Japan but she was arrested in South Korea and is awaiting trial.

He has since disappeared, Supt Alan said.

Not so lucky

But one alleged recruiter from West Africa was arrested by the CNB.

Okemawalan Ugo Buchi, also known as Malik, is being detained under the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act for recruiting women to take drugs to West Africa.

Supt Alan said Malik is English-educated, and this was why the syndicates come here - because English is widely spoken.

Malik claimed he was working at his uncle's electrical shop in Nigeria and has two brothers.

He said his father is dead and he had been conned of several thousand dollars by an employment agency.

Malik admitted to Supt Alan that to survive here, he would find as many girlfriends as possible to support him.

They would pay for his food and some gave him shelter. Despite being cash-strapped, they would send $200 to $300, when they could afford it, to his family in Nigeria.

'He admitted he was a parasite,' said Supt Alan.

He said Malik and his gang found these women at Clarke Quay and coffee shops in Bencoolen Street and would exchange contact numbers.

'The very next day, they would have a date. They don't waste time,' said Supt Alan.

Malik cheated on his girlfriend by having several other women on the side.

Despite objections from family members who did not trust Malik, the women stood by him.

Said Supt Alan: 'It's difficult to explain why these women pay for him. Some were very committed to him because of genuine feelings for him.

'Most of them claimed that they lacked care and concern in their lives. And he gave them that. But it was all lip service.'

When the women ran short of cash, Malik suggested they deliver clothing samples abroad. He told them they would be paid US$500 ($720) to US$1,500 per trip.

These samples were packed with drugs.

But when they returned, Malik paid them in Singapore currency instead, deliberately creating tensions between himself and the women.

It was all planned.

Other syndicate members, passing off as Malik's friends, would then suggest to the women that he could not be trusted. And if the women worked for them instead, they would be paid in US dollars.

Said Supt Alan: 'That's how they end up delivering drugs for his friends. It's all part of the strategy.'

He said another Nigerian got his Singaporean girlfriend to do a drug run, then abandoned her overseas.

The single Malay woman, Linda (not her real name), 26, had flown to Spain and then to Central America.

There, she received instructions to pick up a bag of drugs, possibly cocaine, and travel to the Caribbean.

Cold feet

But in Central America, she got cold feet as the Nigerian syndicate constantly monitored her movements.

Said Supt Alan: 'They instilled fear in her and told her, 'If you run away with our drugs, we will kill you'.'

Linda deliberately created problems with her ticket so she would not be able to fly to the Caribbean.

The syndicate was furious and sent her back to Spain.

She pleaded with her Nigerian boyfriend here to help her, but he refused.

The syndicate tried to send her from Spain to Brazil for another drug run.

But the terrified woman secretly contacted her family members here. Several desperate phone calls later, they managed to book a flight home for her from Spain.

Linda is now helping CNB with their investigations.

Supt Alan said not all the women he has spoken to became drug mules.

'There have been occasions where some women refused to carry drugs when they realised what the package was. They left the bags in the country and returned home,' he said.

This article was first published in The New Paper.