INTERPOL-led sweep across Africa leads to 1,462 arrests
A police operation coordinated by INTERPOL across 21 countries resulted in 1,462 arrests and the takedown of 10,909 criminal networks. Investigators recovered more than $105 million and connected the networks to over $385 million in losses suffered by 65,929 victims. The sweep targeted fraud, ransomware, business email compromise, online scams, and digital extortion, with support from several private security companies.
Operation Serengeti III ran from late June to the end of August 2026 and involved 20 African nations plus the United States. Besides arrests and network takedowns, authorities seized assets and identified tens of thousands of victims across several online fraud categories.
Country cases included Uganda’s breakup of two fraud rings with 365 foreign nationals, Angola’s closure of two illegal crypto-mining sites with nine arrests and over 2,000 devices, and Nigerian probes into credential harvesting and messaging-app investment fraud. Tanzania, Gabon and the Republic of Congo also reported actions.
The sweep could bolster confidence in cross-border policing by showing that scattered online fraud networks can be mapped and disrupted. Victims may benefit from recovered funds and dismantled infrastructure, though restitution could remain limited. Because the cases involve pensions, business payments, mobile lending and messaging apps, the operation may also prompt consumers and firms to tighten verification and fraud controls. Its wider effect may depend on whether follow-up investigations and prosecutions sustain pressure on the networks.