By Emmanuel Nduka Obisue
Interpol and Afripol have uncovered a vast web of terrorist financing across Africa, leading to 83 arrests in six countries and the seizure of $260 million in cash and cryptocurrency linked to organized crime and extremist groups, Africanews reports.
Codenamed Operation Catalyst, the three-month crackdown conducted between July and September 2025, marked the first coordinated continental effort to dismantle the financial pipelines feeding terrorism. The operation brought together law enforcement agencies from Angola, Cameroon, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, and South Sudan.
Interpol said the operation exposed how terrorism financing is increasingly intertwined with cybercrime, Ponzi schemes, and money laundering. Of those arrested, 21 were linked directly to terrorism, while 28 faced charges for fraud and money laundering, 16 for online scams, and 18 for illegal virtual currency activities. More than 15,000 individuals and entities were screened, uncovering 160 new persons of interest in ongoing investigations.
Heritage Times HT reports that in Angola, police dismantled an illegal money transfer network tied to terrorism and money laundering, arresting 25 suspects and seizing $588,000, 100 phones, 40 computers, and freezing 60 bank accounts. In Kenya, investigators broke up a $430,000 money-laundering ring operating through a virtual asset provider. Two more suspects were detained for allegedly recruiting young Africans into extremist groups using cryptocurrency channels traced to Tanzania. In Nigeria, 11 suspected terrorists, including senior members of several armed groups, were captured in a series of coordinated raids.
Authorities also exposed a massive cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme disguised as an online trading platform. The scam, spanning 17 countries including Cameroon, Kenya, and Nigeria, defrauded more than 100,000 victims worldwide of an estimated $562 million. Some of the funds were traced to terror groups. Interpol has since issued a Red Notice for a suspect accused of running a $5 million crypto scam, who allegedly moved funds through multiple digital wallets before converting them to cash to conceal the trail.
Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza hailed the operation as a milestone in Africa’s fight against terrorism financing. “This is the first time financial crime, cybercrime and counter-terrorism units from several African countries have joined forces with Interpol and Afripol,” Urquiza said. “By sharing intelligence, we can disrupt the financial flows that keep terrorist networks alive”.
Afripol Executive Director Ambassador Jalel Chelba described the success as proof of Africa’s growing capacity for coordinated security action. “When African law enforcement works together, we can offer a strong and coordinated response to complex and evolving security threats,” he stated.
Operation Catalyst was carried out under the ISPA programme, funded by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, which supports Afripol’s work in tackling terrorism, organized crime, and financial offences. Private-sector partners including Binance, Moody’s, and Uppsala Security provided cyber intelligence and blockchain analytics that helped trace illicit digital transactions.
