The International Criminal Police Organisation, Interpol, has arrested 11 suspected high-level members of terrorist groups in Nigeria. The arrests were made as part of a two-month joint operation with the African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation, AFRIPOL, codenamed ‘Operation Catalyst’.
Interpol said the operation covered six African countries including Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Sudan and targeted terrorism financing and related illegal activities. It added that 83 people were arrested in total, following the inspection of 30 commercial establishments and the freezing of 60 bank accounts.
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The agency revealed that $260 million in fiat and virtual currencies potentially linked to terrorist activities was uncovered, while $600,000 was seized. Arrests included suspects involved in money laundering, financial fraud, cyber scams, and the illicit use of virtual assets.
In one of the biggest cases, Interpol said a cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme operating across 17 countries, including Nigeria, defrauded over 100,000 victims of more than $562 million. Investigations into the scheme and other terrorism-related financial networks are still ongoing.
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