John AdoyiAuthorities across Africa have arrested more than 1,200 suspected cybercriminals and recovered $97.4 million in an INTERPOL-led operation that dismantled thousands of malicious online networks, the international Police said in a statement on Friday.
The three-month sweep, codenamed Operation Serengeti 2.0, ran from June to August and drew investigators from 18 African countries alongside the United Kingdom. It targeted some of the most damaging forms of online crime, including ransomware, business email compromise and investment fraud, which INTERPOL recently flagged as top threats in its Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe arrests highlight how cybercrime has grown into a transnational threat demanding coordinated responses. Investigators shut down more than 11,400 infrastructures used to launch cyberattacks, while also uncovering elaborate fraud schemes stretching across borders. In Angola, police dismantled illegal cryptocurrency mining centers run by foreign nationals and confiscated power stations valued at tens of millions of dollars. In Zambia, authorities disrupted an online investment scam that defrauded tens of thousands of victims, and in Côte d’Ivoire, officers broke up a transnational inheritance fraud traced back to Germany.
INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said the results show how cooperation among member countries is delivering measurable impact. “Each INTERPOL-coordinated operation builds on the last, deepening cooperation, increasing information sharing and developing investigative skills,” he said. “This global network is stronger than ever, delivering real outcomes and safeguarding victims.”
The operation leaned heavily on intelligence provided by private-sector partners, who shared data on suspicious domains, IP addresses and servers ahead of the crackdown. Investigators also underwent training in cryptocurrency tracing, ransomware analysis and open-source intelligence to sharpen their skills before launching raids. Preventive work ran alongside enforcement, through the International Cyber Offender Prevention Network, a consortium of 36 countries led by the Netherlands that aims to disrupt criminal activity before it occurs.
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Serengeti 2.0 was built on the first edition of the operation, carried out in late 2024, when more than 1,000 suspects were arrested and over 134,000 malicious networks were disrupted in a sweep that exposed nearly $193 million in losses. That campaign revealed the extent of Africa’s vulnerability to cybercrime and set the stage for this year’s follow-up.
The latest operation was conducted under the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime and funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office , targeting 88,000 alleged cyber criminals.
