Historic Croatian names used by Afghans on fake IDs in Split airport case

Split Airport (Photo: Ballota/CC BY-SA 4.0)

SPLIT, 24 September 2026 (Hina) – Two Afghan brothers have been stopped at Split Airport after Croatian authorities discovered they were travelling with forged identity cards bearing the names of historic Croatian rulers.

The unusual case came to light when airport employees became suspicious of the documents presented by the two travellers.

Checks confirmed that the identity cards were counterfeit and that the names listed on them did not belong to the two Afghan nationals.

The older brother, an adult, was identified as being in possession of an identity card bearing the name Knez Trpimir, while the document used by his younger, minor brother carried the name Kralj Ladislav.

The two were arrested at the airport following the discovery and underwent a criminal investigation.

A judge at the Split County Court subsequently ordered the older brother to be held in pre-trial detention due to a risk that he could flee.

His younger brother, who is a minor, was placed in the care of the Home for Children and Youth in Brda, Split.

The investigation established that the forged identity cards had been provided to the brothers in Athens, Greece.

According to the findings, they had travelled from Greece to Croatia and were intending to continue their journey to Germany.

The names used on the documents refer to figures from Croatian history. Trpimir was a 9th-century Croatian duke, while Ladislav was the name of a Croatian king from the medieval period.

Croatian authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the forged documents and the brothers’ planned journey.