Interpol Recovers $105M in African Cybercrime Sweep That Shut Illegal Crypto Mines

Law enforcement agencies from 21 countries arrested 1,462 suspects, disrupted 10,909 malicious networks and recovered more than $105 million in an Interpol-coordinated crackdown on cybercrime in Africa, the international police organization said on Thursday.

Operation Serengeti III ran from June 29 to August 31, 2026, targeting ransomware, online scams, business email compromise, digital extortion and other cyber-enabled fraud. Authorities identified 65,929 victims, and financial investigations linked the networks to losses of more than $385 million, according to Interpol.

In Angola, investigators dismantled two illegal crypto mining centers, arresting nine people and seizing more than 2,000 mining devices along with six illegal power transformation stations. The seized electrical equipment alone was worth more than $1 million, Interpol said.

In Nigeria, a suspect was arrested over an international investment fraud scheme promoted through messaging apps. Investigators traced more than $2.4 million in suspected criminal proceeds, much of which was laundered through crypto transactions.

Ugandan authorities dismantled two transnational fraud rings and arrested 365 foreign nationals linked to online investment and pension scams aimed at victims in Asia. The rings ran a rotating call-center operation using scripts, fake trading platforms and fraudulent websites to persuade pensioners to invest in opportunities that did not exist.

Other arrests included a Nigerian suspect accused of running a phishing and business email compromise operation that collected around 2.1 million email addresses, and 30 suspects linked to a cybercrime operation in the Republic of Congo.

"Cybercrime networks operate without regard for borders, exploiting technology to target victims on an unprecedented scale," said Neal Jetton, Interpol's director of cybercrime.

Private-sector partners including Group-IB, Kaspersky, blockchain analytics firm Uppsala Security and Meta supported the operation. Several investigations remain active as authorities try to identify more suspects and trace illicit proceeds, Interpol said.

Crypto crime in Africa

The operation follows Operation Catalyst, a joint Interpol and Afripol crackdown on terrorist financing and cybercrime in which authorities arrested 83 people across six African countries in 2025. That operation flagged $260 million in illicit crypto and fiat, of which $600,000 had been seized, and identified several high-value crypto wallets that Interpol said were "potentially linked" to terrorist financing.

An Interpol expert told Decrypt at the time that criminals were "increasingly" using crypto in Africa, but that it was not yet the main way most cybercrime proceeds were paid or settled.