Interpol’s Operation in Africa Arrests 1,462 Suspects and Recovers Over $105 Million

ChainCatcher report: Interpol has notified that, from June 29 to August 31, 2026, it coordinated law enforcement agencies across 21 countries in Operation Serengeti III, targeting cyber fraud, ransomware, business email compromise, online scams, and digital extortion. The operation resulted in the arrest of 1,462 suspects, the takedown of 10,909 malicious websites, and the recovery of over $105 million in illicit funds. Investigations identified 65,929 victims, with financial losses linked to the crimes exceeding $385 million. In Angola, authorities dismantled two illegal cryptocurrency mining centers, arrested nine suspects, and seized over 2,000 cryptocurrency mining devices and six illegal power substations—the confiscated power infrastructure alone valued at over $1 million. In Nigeria, authorities arrested a suspect linked to large-scale phishing and business email compromise operations that collected approximately 2.1 million email addresses and software credentials; another investigation uncovered an international investment scam promoted via instant messaging apps that transferred over $2.4 million in suspected proceeds of crime, most of which were laundered through cryptocurrency transactions. Neal Jetton, Interpol’s Head of Cybercrime, stated that cybercrime networks operate without regard to borders and exploit technology to target victims on an unprecedented scale; the operation demonstrates that despite the growing transnational nature of cybercrime, international cooperation remains an effective tool for dismantling criminal networks, recovering illicit assets, and protecting communities. The operation was supported by private-sector partners including Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet, and Meta, and co-funded by the EU’s GLACY-e project.