83 people arrested in ‘groundbreaking’ Interpol operation that hits crypto terrorist financing and cybercrime in Africa

Interpol and Afripol have reported $260 million in illegally obtained virtual and fiat currency as part of a joint operation to combat terrorist financing and cybercrime networks in Africa.

Authorities have arrested 83 people in multiple African countries as part of Operation Catalyst, and have so far seized $600,000 of $260 million in illegal assets.

Of the 83 arrests, 21 were related to terrorism, 28 were for fraud and money laundering crimes, 16 were for online fraud, and 19 were for the “misappropriation” of virtual assets.

Authorities conducted Operation Catalyst between July and September this year with the aim of identifying and disrupting the flow of funds related to terrorism.

Targeting virtual currency crime

Featuring data from private sector collaborators such as BinanceMoody’s and Uppsala Security, many of the individual acts that formed Operation Catalyst were involved in crypto-related criminal activity.

One specific example involves a cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme that posed as a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange and stole a total of $562 million from more than 100,000 victims in “at least” 17 countries (including Nigeria, Cameroon, and Kenya).

Several high-value cryptocurrency wallets involved in the scheme are also “potentially linked” to terrorist financing activities, according to Interpol, which is still investigating the case.

Another case, this time in Kenya, centers on alleged money laundering attempts to launder funds through legitimate virtual asset service providers who have not been named by Interpol or Afripol.

Again, this particular case has links to terrorist financing, and so far 12 people have been identified as suspects and two have been arrested.

According to the Binance research team, crypto exchanges helped provide the information and resources needed to track crypto flows.

This was announced by a team spokesperson. decryption The team said it “supported local law enforcement by providing operational intelligence and analysis, assisted by our forensic tools.” Such cooperation is increasingly becoming the norm, the Binance research team said, adding that crypto exchanges are now “one of the key allies” of law enforcement in the fight against transnational crime.

“Last year, we responded to approximately 65,000 law enforcement requests and served more than 14,800 registered personnel worldwide,” a spokesperson said. “Our team also conducted 100 law enforcement training sessions.”

Cryptocrime in Africa

This growing collaboration shows that cryptocurrencies are increasingly attracting attention to crime and terrorist financing in Africa, something Interpol itself has acknowledged.

“As the adoption of cryptocurrencies increases, financial crimes using cryptocurrencies are also on the rise. Notably, Interpol’s 2025 Africa Cyber ​​Threat Assessment Report highlighted that two-thirds of African member states say cyber-related crimes account for a “moderate to high” proportion of total crimes. This is an important statistic given that in West and East Africa, cybercrime accounts for approximately 30% of all reported crimes,” Interpol experts said. to decryption.

Experts noted that there has been a significant increase in cryptocurrency-related fraud, especially in Nigeria. decryption We previously reported on how the country’s EFCC chairman accused “corrupt” politicians of hiding illicit wealth in cryptocurrencies.

“Given the reduced barriers to accessing cryptocurrencies, criminals are increasingly able to adopt more sophisticated techniques to exploit cryptocurrencies in other crimes,” the expert added. stable coin Coin mixer to obfuscate the flow of funds in ransomware and extortion cases.

More generally, Interpol experts explained that although the use of cryptocurrencies by cybercriminals is “on the rise,” this does not mean that cryptocurrencies are the primary means of payment or settlement for most cybercrimes.

He noted that Interpol’s Africa Cyber ​​Threat Assessment report highlights that “many incidents, particularly business email compromises, typically utilize traditional bank transfer and fiat currency systems, while fraud can exploit gift card systems.”