Two Nigerians were among 1,462 suspects arrested by the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) for allegedly operating “malicious” networks linked to cybercrime across Africa.
In a statement published on its website on Thursday, Interpol said the operation, codenamed “Operation Serengeti III”, ran from June 29 to August 31, 2026.
The international police organisation said law enforcement agencies from 20 African countries and the United States participated in the operation to “combat cyber-enabled fraud, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), online scams and digital extortion”.
The participating countries were Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, the United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
According to Interpol, the operation resulted in the arrest of 1,462 suspects, the disruption of 10,909 malicious networks and the recovery of $105 million in illicit funds.
In Nigeria, law enforcement agencies arrested one suspect over alleged involvement in a large-scale phishing operation that “harvested software credentials and amassed approximately 2.1 million email addresses”.
The second suspect was arrested over alleged investment fraud involving $2.4 million, which was reportedly laundered through cryptocurrency transactions.
Meanwhile, authorities in Uganda arrested 365 foreign nationals over alleged involvement in “sophisticated online investment and pension fraud schemes targeting victims across Asia”.
“Prior to the operation, investigators from 20 African countries and from the United States were provided with actionable intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control infrastructure linked to criminal activity,” the statement reads.
“In Angola, investigators dismantled two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres, arresting nine suspects and seizing more than 2,000 cryptocurrency mining devices alongside six illegal power transformation stations. The seized electrical infrastructure alone was valued at more than USD 1 million.
“In Nigeria, authorities arrested a suspect behind a large-scale phishing and business email compromise operation that harvested software credentials and amassed approximately 2.1 million email addresses. Investigators also recovered a luxury vehicle suspected to have been purchased with criminal proceeds.
“A separate Nigerian investigation targeted an international investment fraud scheme promoted via messaging apps, leading to the arrest of a suspect. Financial investigations revealed the movement of more than USD 2.4 million in suspected criminal proceeds, much of which was laundered through cryptocurrency transactions.
“Elsewhere, authorities dismantled a malicious mobile loan application scheme in Tanzania, disrupted a social media-based vehicle import fraud network in Gabon, and arrested 30 suspects linked to a cybercrime operation in the Republic of Congo.”