The arrests form part of intensified operations conducted between 27 February and 11 March 2026 aimed at detecting wanted persons and intercepting stolen or fraudulent travel documents at South Africa’s land border posts.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Vincent Mukhathi said the first suspect, a 40-year-old woman identified as Falis Addullah Sheik-Mohamed, was arrested on Tuesday after she was found in possession of a Norwegian passport during a document screening operation.

Mukhathi said the passport triggered an alert on the Interpol Mobile Device system.

Further investigation revealed that the passport had been circulated on Interpol’s global database by Norwegian authorities and had previously been revoked by the Norwegian Immigration Department.

Sheik-Mohamed was also denied entry into Mozambique after officials discovered she did not possess the required visa for the Norwegian passport she carried. Police subsequently confiscated the flagged document.

Following the incident, the suspect reportedly contacted her brother, 44-year-old Hussein Mohamed Ali, for assistance.

Mukhathi said that during a meeting at a Spur restaurant in Komatipoort, the pair allegedly attempted to bribe a police officer with R2,000 in exchange for the woman’s release.

Officers immediately arrested Ali along with a third suspect, 38-year-old Mukhtaar Mohamed, who had driven the pair to the location.

The suspects were detained at Komatipoort Police Station. During the operation, police seized three cellphones, the R2,000 cash allegedly used in the bribery attempt, the Norwegian passport and a BMW X3 vehicle.

The trio appeared in the Komatipoort Magistrate’s Court on Thursday on charges of fraud, corruption and illegal immigration. The case was postponed to 17 and 20 March 2026 for further proceedings.

sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za