Category: Interpol

INTERPOL and EMCCA have signed a Co-operation Agreement, on Monday 26th March 2001. The INTERPOL President Mr Jesus ESPIGARES MIRA, and the EMCCA Secretary General Mr Jean NKUETE took part in the ceremony as well as M. Pierre MINLO MEDJO, General Delegate to the Public Security of Cameroon and Chairman of the Central African Police Chiefs Committee (CAPCCO)

The purpose of this bilateral agreement is to develop the exchange of information between the two organisations, to establish operational channels of co-operation between both Organisations throughout the world, recognising the importance of further strengthening the co-operation between them within the fields of their mutual competence and to co-ordinate their efforts within the framework of the missions assigned to them.

For more information about INTERPOL, please consult our web site: http://www.INTERPOL.int

See also: Resolution No AGN/69/RES/9.

LYON, France – Two suspected traffickers have been arrested and 33 people rescued from a criminal network that sequestered victims and forced them into exploitative pyramid schemes.

The successful operation was carried out by police in Côte d’Ivoire, following a joint investigation with Ghanaian authorities and support from INTERPOL.

The case was brought to the attention of police in Ghana by the father of two victims who had been lured through fake job ads online. His daughters had paid nearly USD 9,000 to travel to Canada for work via a recruiter that used a Canadian phone number, giving the employment offer a sense of legitimacy.

In reality, the victims had been trafficked to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire for the purpose of exploitation where they were held against their will. Under physical and psychological coercion, including threats and abuse, they were forced to perpetuate the scam by enrolling new victims using popular multi-level marketing platforms.

To conceal the exploitation from friends and family, the organizers provided victims with Canadian contact details and prevented them from speaking openly about the situation. Victims were taken to upmarket shops or luxury hotels in Abidjan and made to pose for photos to falsely suggest a life of comfort abroad.

An investigation was launched in Ghana after one victim escaped the captors and returned home, alerting families and giving crucial information to police.

Thanks to a police cooperation agreement between Western African countries that enables free cross-border movement for criminal investigations, the escaped victim returned to Côte d’Ivoire to give vital evidence. As a key witness, the individual was able to provide intelligence for the rescue operation. The relatives of victims still held captive were also assisted with travel to Abidjan to give additional information to local forces.

Throughout the investigation INTERPOL acted as a coordinator between the two countries, facilitating the organization of raids on two key locations in February 2025. The successful mission, carried out by specialized agencies in Côte d’Ivoire, resulted in two arrests and the release of 33 victims.

The rescued victims, who came from four different countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Togo—were referred to a local NGO for assistance and care. The main suspect was arrested and handed over to Ghanaian authorities for legal proceedings.

Valdecy Urquiza, INTERPOL Secretary General said:

“This success involving Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana is an excellent example of how important police cooperation is when it comes to fighting human trafficking scams. Because of their joint efforts, victims have been saved and those responsible are now facing justice. INTERPOL will continue supporting our member countries’ work to bring down these criminal networks and put an end to human trafficking in all its forms.”

Youssouf Kouyate, Director General of the Côte d’Ivoire National Police said:

“Our close cooperation with INTERPOL and Ghanaian police was pivotal to the achievements of this operation and is a testament to the strength of our regional partnerships. I would like to commend the bravery of the victims who came forward to assist in this investigation and to reaffirm our commitment to pursuing and dismantling the networks that perpetrate these crimes.”

Scams on the rise: What to look out for

Exploitative pyramid schemes are a growing threat in West and Central Africa, often following similar patterns to the case outlined above. Victims are typically promised employment or educational opportunities abroad and persuaded to pay upfront fees for travel or administration costs.

Once ensnared by human traffickers, their personal documents are confiscated and they are often subjected to a horrific range of abuses, including forced labour, extortion, physical violence or sexual exploitation. To bring in new victims they are regularly forced to target their own friends, family or personal acquaintances, preying on trust to expand the scheme.

INTERPOL urges the public to be extremely cautious when approached about work or study opportunities, even when introduced by a personal contact. Some of the red flags to look out for include:

• Requests for personal information or money – One of the clearest signs of a scam is a request for payment or investment during the application, interview or onboarding process. You should never have to part with your money to receive a legitimate offer.
• Pressure tactics – Scammers may create urgency by setting short deadlines or claiming the offer will go to someone else if you don’t respond quickly. Genuine recruiters will allow you time to consider the opportunity.
• Too-good-to-be-true offers – Is the offer vague or poorly explained? Did you receive it without a thorough interview? Are the salary or conditions unusually generous? Compare it with similar offers. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• Online presence – In the past, a simple online search could often expose a scam through its amateur website or unprofessional communication. Today, many criminal groups set up convincing companies or imitate well-known brands, often with a polished digital presence.

LYON, France — Authorities in seven African countries have arrested 306 suspects and seized 1,842 devices in an international operation targeting cyber attacks and cyber-enabled scams.

The arrests were made as part of Operation Red Card (November 2024 – February 2025) which aims to disrupt and dismantle cross-border criminal networks which cause significant harm to individuals and businesses. In particular, the operation targeted mobile banking, investment and messaging app scams. The cases uncovered during the operation involved more than 5,000 victims.

As part of the crackdown, Nigerian police arrested 130 people, including 113 foreign nationals, for their alleged involvement in cyber-enabled scams such as online casino and investment fraud. The suspects, who converted proceeds to digital assets to conceal their tracks, were recruited from different countries to run the illegal schemes in as many languages as possible. Nigerian authorities have established that some of the people working in the scam centres may also be victims of human trafficking, forced or coerced into criminal activities. Overall, the investigation led to the seizure of 26 vehicles, 16 houses, 39 plots of land and 685 devices.

In a significant case from South Africa, authorities arrested 40 individuals and seized more than 1,000 SIM cards, along with 53 desktops and towers linked to a sophisticated SIM box fraud scheme. This setup, which reroutes international calls as local ones, is commonly used by criminals to carry out large-scale SMS phishing attacks.

In Zambia, officers apprehended 14 suspected members of a criminal syndicate that hacked into victims’ phones. The scam involved sending a message containing a malicious link which, when clicked, installed malware to the device. This allowed hackers to take control of the messaging account, and ultimately the phone, giving them access to banking apps. The hackers were also able to use the victim’s messaging apps to share the malicious link within conversations and groups, enabling the scam to spread.

During the operation, Rwandan authorities arrested 45 members of a criminal network for their involvement in social engineering scams that defrauded victims of over USD 305,000 in 2024 alone. Their tactics included posing as telecommunications employees and claiming fake ‘jackpot’ wins to extract sensitive information and gain access to victims’ mobile banking accounts. Another method involved impersonating an injured family member to ask relatives for financial assistance towards hospital bills. Overall, USD 103,043 was recovered and 292 devices were seized.

Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s Director of the Cybercrime Directorate, said:

“The success of Operation Red Card demonstrates the power of international cooperation in combating cybercrime, which knows no borders and can have devastating effects on individuals and communities. The recovery of significant assets and devices, as well as the arrest of key suspects, sends a strong message to cybercriminals that their activities will not go unpunished.”

Ahead of the operation, countries exchanged criminal intelligence on key targets. This intelligence was enriched by INTERPOL with insights into criminal modus operandi using data from its private sector partners—Group-IB, Kaspersky and Trend Micro.

 The seven participating countries were Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo and Zambia.

The operation was delivered through INTERPOL’s African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC), an initiative funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

An operation targeting cocaine trafficking routes from South America and Africa into Europe has led to the seizure of more than 1.7 tonnes of drugs, some EUR 1.4 million in cash and 91 arrests.

Operation COCAIR IV, led by the World Customs Organization (WCO), and supported by INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), also resulted in the recovery of more than 10 tonnes of counterfeit medical products and around 35 kilogrammes of illicit wildlife products, including rough and worked ivory.

During the nine-day operation (26 October – 3 November) nearly 100 seizures were made at 30 international airports across Africa with 181 kg of cocaine 1,700 kg of cannabis and 40 kg of methamphetamine recovered.

In addition to intelligence-led controls, including profiling passenger lists, law enforcement officers also carried out additional checks on postal items, freight, aircraft and crew members.

The operation comes under the umbrella of Project AIRCOP, an European Commission and Canada funded initiative to improve controls at international airports by enhancing cooperation between drug enforcement services through communication via WCO’s CENcomm and INTERPOL’s I-24/7 secure systems.

Prior to the operational phase, a training session was held in Libreville, Gabon where INTERPOL and WCO provided specialist training to nearly 50 officers from the participating countries on a range of issues including risk analysis and product identification.

Countries which took part in Operation COCAIR IV: Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, France, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Jamaica, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.

LYON, France – The INTERPOL illicit Arms Records and Tracing Management System (iARMS) has recorded its first ‘hit’, matching a firearm seized by police in Panama to one stolen in Costa Rica 18 months earlier.

Launched at the start of 2013, iARMS which currently contains more than 288,000 records provided by nearly 100 countries, provides a centralized system for the reporting and querying of lost, stolen, trafficked and smuggled firearms by all 190 INTERPOL member countries.

In January 2012, a cache of 216 firearms were reported stolen by the Costa Rican authorities. To alert other countries of the possible threat posed by the missing firearms, INTERPOL issued an Orange Notice warning that the weapons could potentially be smuggled into other countries in the region.

When Costa Rica joined iARMS in April 2013, its authorities recorded details of the missing firearms for inclusion in the database. It was one of the first countries from the region to add its records into the iARMS system.

In a separate case, in August 2013 police in Panama seized a handgun during a raid on a residence in relation to suspected drug crimes. A check against the iARMS database revealed that the weapon recovered in the raid was a match to one of those stolen in Costa Rica in 2012.

“This first hit in iARMS demonstrates the importance of this tool for uncovering links between cases which at first appear unrelated,” said Jeffrey Stirling, Head of INTERPOL’s Firearms Programme.

“We hope this example of the success of iARMS encourages more member countries to add their records of stolen, lost, trafficked, smuggled and crime-related firearms to the database, making it an even stronger tool for law enforcement,” concluded Mr Stirling.

Authorities in Costa Rica and Panama are now working closely to share information, identify potential firearm trafficking and smuggling routes between the two countries, and the organizations which could be involved.

In addition to assisting countries match illicit firearms, iARMS also enables law enforcement to check when and where a weapon was manufactured which can assist in tracing its movements from initial circulation to seizure.

LYON, France – An agreement to extend access to INTERPOL’s tools and services to key border points in six Central African countries has been concluded by INTERPOL and the Communauté Économique et Monétaire de l’Afrique Centrale (CEMAC).

Signed by CEMAC President Pierre Moussa and INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble, the agreement provides a framework for linking 40 border points in the CEMAC countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon) to I-24/7, INTERPOL’s secure police communications system.

In addition to updating the I-24/7 access at the INTERPOL National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in each of the six countries, the two organizations will collaborate to establish access at remote sites including international airports, sea ports and strategic border crossing points.

“This agreement comes at a time when the CEMAC member countries are preparing to implement, as of 1 January 2014, the free movement of people within their borders. Therefore it is crucial that we ensure the highest level of security possible within these common boundaries, particularly with the support of INTERPOL,” said CEMAC President Moussa, who visited INTERPOL’s General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France to sign the accord.

He added that the agreement between the two organizations ‘offers a fundamental and indispensable support in this time of globalization, which permits us to access INTERPOL’s tools and services, in particular its nominal and Stolen and Lost Travel Documents databases at our airports, ports and land borders.’

INTERPOL Chief Noble hailed the agreement as a critical step towards enhancing security in the Central African region.

“By ensuring that law enforcement officers on the ground have instant access to INTERPOL’s databases and other tools, this agreement represents the commitment of CEMAC and its member countries to safeguarding their borders against all types of transnational threats,” said Secretary General Noble.

CEMAC is a regional organization established in 1994 to promote cooperation and exchange among its member countries, as well as to create a common market and effective customs union.

CARTAGENA DE INDIAS, Colombia – The 82nd session of the INTERPOL General Assembly closed today with strong foundations in place for the Organization’s future to better support all 190 member countries in tackling transnational crime and terrorism.

With the four-day (21-24 October) conference coming just one month after the Westgate shopping centre attacks in Nairobi, Kenya, senior police officials discussed the Organization’s priorities and strategic roadmap for the next three years, focusing on policing needs in the field addressing threats ranging from terrorism to cybercrime.

INTERPOL’s new e-extradition initiative, a technical platform which will significantly speed up and facilitate extradition requests through the world police body’s secure communications channels, was strongly endorsed as a ground-breaking initiative by delegates.

“The resolutions adopted by this General Assembly will develop and further strengthen the partnerships between INTERPOL and other international organizations,” said INTERPOL President Mireille Ballestrazzi.

“The various discussions and debates during the past four days reflect the collective experience of member countries and the INTERPOL General Secretariat, and will enable us all to continue to develop initiatives to enhance the safety of all citizens throughout the world,” concluded the President.

A key decision by delegates was the endorsement of a resolution for extrabudgetary resources to be identified in order to provide long-term financial assistance towards INTERPOL’s activities and operational support to all member countries in combating transnational crime and terrorism.

INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said the decisions taken by the General Assembly paved the way for the Organization to plan for its future and provide additional assistance to member countries.

“As the world’s largest police organization we must ensure that all of our 190 member countries can count on our support whenever and wherever needed,” said Secretary General Noble.

“Many of the decisions taken during this General Assembly will provide us with an even stronger framework to address the various transnational crime challenges facing the global law enforcement community,” concluded the INTERPOL Chief.

Strengthening relationships between police and prosecutorial authorities was also an important element during the conference, with the approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between INTERPOL and Eurojust.

At the conclusion of the conference Juan Carlos Pinzón Bueno, Minister of National Defence, announced Colombia’s recognition of the INTERPOL Travel Document (ITD) thereby significantly speeding up the ability for INTERPOL officials to respond to any calls for assistance or support. To date, 64 INTERPOL member countries have officially recognized the ITD.

The 83rd INTERPOL General Assembly will be held in Monaco, 100 years after the country hosted the first International Criminal Police Congress in 1914, where the idea of INTERPOL was born.

On Friday 7 March, the world unites to honour the courage and sacrifice of law enforcement officers who have laid down their lives in the line of duty.

The International Day of Remembrance for Fallen Officers, created by INTERPOL in 2019, is more than a tribute—it is a solemn reminder that every officer lost in the line of duty was not only protecting their community but also strengthening the foundations of global security. Their dedication transcended borders, ensuring safer societies and a more secure world for all.

Across continents, police forces stand together in remembrance. Flags at INTERPOL duty stations are lowered to half-mast, and tributes take place worldwide—each one a testament to the profound respect and gratitude owed to these fallen officers. Their sacrifice is a stark reminder that security is never guaranteed; it is upheld daily by those willing to stand on the front lines against crime, violence, and threats that endanger us all.

You can join this global tribute by sharing their legacy. Use the hashtag #FallenOfficers to spread awareness, honour their memory, and stand in solidarity with those who continue to serve—protecting lives and defending the stability that allows societies to thrive