The U.S. Department of Justice announced that an international operation targeting West African scam networks led to 28 arrests in Ghana and Nigeria, while private-sector partners flagged more than $11 million in funds for potential freezing. The figure is a marker of suspicious activity, not confirmed recoveries.
The operation, called Joint Disruption Week, was hosted by the U.K.'s National Crime Agency in London during the week beginning October 6. It brought together law enforcement, cryptocurrency exchanges, blockchain analytics firms and major technology platforms to disrupt investment fraud, impersonation and other online schemes aimed at victims in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere.
In Ghana, 19 people were arrested in Sasaabi near Accra, with 303 electronic devices seized. Nigerian authorities arrested nine additional suspects. The NCA said 117 trafficking victims were identified in Ghana and were awaiting repatriation to Nigeria, highlighting how scam centers can involve people held against their will.
Binance and Coinbase participated alongside blockchain analytics companies Chainalysis, Elliptic and TRM Labs, as well as Meta, Google and Microsoft. Coinbase said it helped trace illicit funds, supported asset freezes, identified more than 65 active scam victims and prevented more than $415,000 in potential losses. TRM Labs reported exposing a large peer-to-peer laundering network. Meta removed more than 3.7 million Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups linked to fraudulent activity.
Participants also provided law enforcement with leads on more than 30 suspected scam centers. Although the operation produced arrests, device seizures and account removals, officials emphasized that flagged funds are not the same as money recovered. The next test will be whether authorities can convert identified funds into actual freezes, identify additional victims, and sustain the disruption of fraud infrastructure.
