Protea Glen:A 41-year-old suspect is set to appear in the Protea Glen Magistrate's Court this week after being arrested by the Hawks' East Serious Organised Crime Investigation unit in Tubatse, Limpopo. The charges against him include fraud, corruption, violation of the Immigration Act, and racketeering.

According to South African Government News Agency, the individual is the last suspect to be apprehended in connection with Project Humulani, an extensive undercover operation aimed at dismantling a multimillion-rand passport fraud, corruption, and human smuggling syndicate. This project was initiated in April 2022 based on intelligence collected in December 2021 about a syndicate operating at border areas.

The operation revealed that a foreign national kingpin colluded with corrupt Home Affairs officials and exploited vulnerable South African citizens to carry out a technique known as photo-swapping. This involved using legitimate identity details of South Africans but replacing their photographs with those of foreign nationals to create fraudulent South African passports.

The investigation was a collaborative effort led by the Hawks' East Rand Serious Organised Crime Investigation, in collaboration with the Department of Home Affairs, the Asset Forfeiture Unit, and the Director of Public Prosecutions. It has achieved significant results, including the conviction and sentencing of the syndicate's kingpin to 14 years in prison and the successful blocking and cancellation of several hundred fraudulently issued passports.

Brigadier Paulina Sekgobela, the Acting Provincial Head for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, praised the investigation team for their outstanding work and commitment to the case.