Authorities arrested 28 suspected cybercriminals across Ghana and Nigeria during an international crackdown that concluded on October 9, 2026. The joint operation, involving law enforcement and technology companies, dismantled online scam networks, seized hundreds of electronic devices, and rescued individuals allegedly trafficked into forced cybercrime.
Joint Disruption Week and the Arrests in Ghana and Nigeria
Law enforcement agencies across West Africa and international partners carried out coordinated raids between October 6 and October 9, 2026. The Joint Disruption Week produced 28 arrests across two countries, with 19 suspects detained in Ghana and nine in Nigeria.
My sincere gratitude goes to the @ghana_airforce and the @modghana for facilitating the repatriation of 120 Nigerian nationals who were arrested during #OperationCyberhunt.This sting operation, led by the @CSAGhana in conjunction with other intelligence and security agencies⦠pic.twitter.com/RjmAaYvHcD
The operation involved multiple agencies, including the UK National Crime Agency (NCA), the US Department of Justice, and the FBI. In Nigeria, officers conducted arrests in Delta State. In Ghana, authorities struck a location in Sasaabi, near Accra, seizing 303 electronic devices.
The overarching international effort, described by officials as the first joint disruption to broadly target West African criminal scam networks, involved extensive cooperation across international boundaries. Transnational syndicates operating from the region have historically relied on decentralized, less industrial setups than those found in southeast Asia, utilizing multi-platform campaigns to target victims globally.
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Disputed Claims Over Operational Leadership and Arrest Figures
A disagreement emerged between local authorities and foreign law enforcement regarding who commanded the raids. Ghanaβs Cyber Security Authority (CSA) rejected claims by FBI Director Kash Patel suggesting the U.S. agency led the global operation that dismantled the compound.
The CSA maintained that Ghanaian security agencies conceived, planned, and executed the operation domestically under local legal frameworks. The Ghanaian authority noted that the comprehensive effort involved support from the National Security Council, the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service, the UK National Crime Agency, the FBI, Nigeriaβs Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Joint Case Team on Cybercrime, the Ghana Immigration Service, and the Office of the Attorney-General.
Discrepancies also appeared in the detention and rescue figures. While international statements noted over 130 people detained or arrested including victims, Ghanaian authorities specified that eight distinct suspects faced direct arrest alongside 120 individuals rescued from compounds.
“The Authority rejects any portrayal of the operation as independently conceived, commanded or executed by the FBI.”
Ghana Cyber Security Authority, via Saharareporters
Human Trafficking Intersecting With Online Cybercrime Networks
Investigators uncovered deep links between transnational online fraud and human trafficking. Victims were recruited under false pretenses and coerced into working inside cybercrime setups.
Criminal networks running these scam compounds operate full-scale business models that recruit workers, train them in sophisticated social engineering and deception techniques, and coordinate multi-platform fraud campaigns. Disrupted schemes during the enforcement window included law enforcement impersonation scams, digital arrest extortion plots, cryptocurrency investment fraud, military impersonation schemes, non-delivery scams, and romance fraud.
In Ghana, authorities identified 117 trafficking victims awaiting repatriation. Ghanaβs Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, announced the repatriation of 120 Nigerian nationals on October 13, thanking the Ghana Air Force and Ministry of Defence for assistance. However, Nigeriaβs National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) reported receiving 105 rescued individuals following an earlier count of 119, leaving an unexplained variance in the figures.
βΌοΈ Meta, Google and OpenAI joined the UK's NCA and the FBI in a crackdown on West African scam centres.Meta removed 3.7M+ Facebook and IG accounts, pages and groups and police made 28 arrests.They freed 117 malnourished trafficking victims from a scam center in Ghana. pic.twitter.com/FEg5XXC7Wt
Tech Firms Remove Accounts to Fight Global Fraud
Fifteen technology corporations joined the international law enforcement effort. Meta removed more than 3.7 million accounts, pages, and groups from Facebook and Instagram to target global victims.
Additional technology firms took direct steps to neutralize malicious infrastructure. Microsoft suspended accounts suspected of association with fraudulent activity, while OpenAI and other partners shared actionable intelligence across digital platforms.
The operation unfolded against a backdrop of surging financial losses from cyber fraud. According to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, investment scams were reported 72,984 times in 2025, with cryptocurrency investment fraud making up 72 percent of those reports.
A scam crackdown on West Africa scam centers by Meta, tech firms and police removed 3.7M accounts, led to 28 arrests and freed 117 victims.#ScamCenters #WestAfrica #Meta #NCA #FBI #OnlineFraud #RomanceScam #Cybersecurityhttps://t.co/YFkqEKikEw