Ghana scam-centre crackdown: 19 arrested, 117 trafficking victims found

Nineteen people have been arrested and 117 human trafficking victims identified at Sasaabi, an Accra suburb, during an international crackdown on criminal networks operating online scam centres.

Authorities seized 303 electronic devices in the Ghana operation, according to the United States Department of Justice. The trafficking victims are awaiting repatriation to Nigeria.

Investigators also identified 89 victims of fraud schemes, with estimated losses of $8.3 million. The supplied account does not specify whether all those cases were linked to the Sasaabi operation or to the wider crackdown.

The Ghana raid formed part of “Joint Disruption Week”, an international enforcement exercise held in October to target scam centres in Ghana, Nigeria and other African countries.

The operation combined real-time intelligence sharing between law enforcement agencies and technology companies, allowing investigators to exchange information about suspected networks.

Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority, the Ghana Police Service’s Criminal Investigation Department and the National Security Service led the local operation.

They received support from the UK’s National Crime Agency, the FBI and Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The Department of Justice described the exercise as the first coordinated international effort focused specifically on West African scam networks.

Across the exercise, authorities arrested 28 people: 19 in Ghana and nine in Nigeria. Nigerian authorities also seized 53 electronic devices.

Authorities said the targeted schemes included criminals impersonating law enforcement officers, cryptocurrency investment fraud and so-called digital “arrest” extortion, in which scammers use claims of arrest to demand money.

The schemes targeted people in the United States, the UK and elsewhere.

The identification of trafficking victims alongside the arrests highlights the human exploitation associated with the targeted scam centres, as well as the financial losses suffered by people defrauded online.

The latest operation followed enforcement action across six locations in Ghana during the last week of September. Authorities made scores of arrests, identified 34 trafficking victims and seized 129 electronic devices during those earlier operations.

US Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva praised Ghanaian and Nigerian officers for their role in the crackdown.

“I am especially grateful to the courageous law enforcement officers in Ghana and Nigeria who put themselves in harm’s way to seize evidence and arrest the criminals who prey on innocent people,” he said.

Technology companies participating in the wider initiative reported removing more than 3.7 million accounts, Pages and Groups used to target people internationally. They also shared leads on more than 30 suspected scam

centres.

Private-sector partners identified more than $11 million in funds that could potentially be frozen. That figure represents money identified for possible action, rather than funds confirmed frozen or recovered.

Hosted by the National Crime Agency in London, the exercise brought together international law enforcement agencies and companies including Meta, Google and Microsoft.

Authorities said continued cooperation would be critical to dismantling the networks and pursuing those behind them.