BENIN · CYBERCRIME
Key Facts
- —What is happening Benin was one of 21 countries in Operation Serengeti III, an INTERPOL-coordinated cybercrime sweep that ran from Monday, 29 June to Monday, 31 August 2026, with results announced on Thursday, 22 October.
- —Why it matters Benin’s own cybercrime unit logged more than 6,500 complaints in 2025, and the sweep shows African police now share intelligence on fraud and ransomware networks across borders, including with the United States.
- —The numbers The operation produced 1,462 arrests, 10,909 disrupted malicious networks, more than US$105 million recovered and 65,929 victims identified, with losses above US$385 million linked to the activity; none of it is broken down for Benin.
- —Who is who INTERPOL is the 196-member international police body, with Neal Jetton as its Director of Cybercrime; Benin’s national digital investigations centre is the CNIN, and its computer security response team is bjCSIRT.
- —What to watch Watch for a Beninese statement on its own share of arrests and recovered funds, and for further results, since investigations in the participating countries may produce further arrests and recoveries.
- —What it means for you The United States took part and its investigators received pre-operation intelligence, but no US bank or victim is named, so US readers should treat the figures as Africa-wide, not as a US loss total.
Benin joined an INTERPOL sweep against cybercrime across 20 African countries and the United States. INTERPOL says the operation led to 1,462 arrests and the recovery of more than US$105 million.
Benin joined an INTERPOL sweep against cybercrime that recovered more than US$105 million, the agency announced on Thursday, 22 October 2026. The operation is called Serengeti III and covered 21 countries.
It ran from Monday, 29 June to Monday, 31 August 2026 and involved 20 African countries plus the United States. Benin is on the participant list, but INTERPOL gives no Benin-specific figures.
What the INTERPOL Sweep Delivered
INTERPOL reports 1,462 suspects arrested and 10,909 malicious networks disrupted during the two-month operation. It also reports 65,929 victims identified and more than US$105 million in illicit funds recovered.
Financial investigations linked the criminal activity to losses above US$385 million. The recovered sum equals about 27 percent of that figure, though INTERPOL does not say both numbers cover the same cases.
The operation targeted cyber-enabled fraud, ransomware, business email compromise, online scams and digital extortion. Business email compromise means criminals pose as executives or suppliers by email to redirect payments.
Before the operation, investigators in 20 African countries and the United States received intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command servers. Command servers are the machines criminals use to direct malware on infected devices.
The 21 participants are Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia and Ghana. The rest are Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, the United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
INTERPOL’s Director of Cybercrime, Neal Jetton, framed the results as a cross-border effort. He said: “Cybercrime networks operate without regard for borders, exploiting technology to target victims on an unprecedented scale.”
Where Benin Fits in the Operation
Benin is listed only as a participating country, with no figure for its own arrests, seizures or recovered funds. INTERPOL’s country examples come from Uganda, Angola, Nigeria, Tanzania, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
La Nouvelle Tribune, a Beninese news site, reported the results on Thursday, 22 October and counts Benin among the West African participants. Radio47 of Kenya also lists Benin among the 21 countries.
Benin took part in the earlier round too. INTERPOL’s release of Tuesday, 26 November 2024 listed Benin among 19 African countries in an operation that led to 1,006 arrests.
Benin’s computer security team, bjCSIRT, said it sent a delegation to that round’s debriefing in Zimbabwe. The meeting was held from 19 to 21 November 2024.
The delegation included the National Center of Digital Investigations, known as CNIN. The post gives no Benin-specific figures.
bjCSIRT’s post calls that 2024 round Serengeti 3.0, a different label from the Serengeti III now announced. The 2025 round, Serengeti 2.0, reported 1,209 arrests and US$97.4 million recovered, according to Hespress.
This year’s 1,462 arrests and more than US$105 million are higher on both counts than the 2025 round. The number of countries also rose, with 21 taking part this year against 18 African countries in 2025.
Examples From Other Countries
In Uganda, two transnational fraud rings were dismantled and 365 foreign nationals were arrested. The rings ran investment and pension fraud from call centres and fake trading platforms, with victims in Asia.
Angola shut two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres and arrested nine suspects. Officers seized more than 2,000 mining devices and six power transformation stations, with the electrical equipment valued above US$1 million.
In Nigeria, one suspect was arrested in a phishing and business email compromise case that harvested about 2.1 million email addresses. A luxury vehicle was recovered, and a separate investment fraud case led to one arrest.
That second Nigerian case traced more than US$2.4 million in suspected proceeds, much of it laundered through cryptocurrency. Tanzania dismantled a malicious mobile loan app scheme, and Gabon disrupted a social media vehicle import fraud network.
The Republic of Congo arrested 30 suspects in a cybercrime operation. INTERPOL names Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet, Team Cymru, Uppsala Security, Cybercrime Atlas, Meta and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance as partners.
Benin’s Own Cybercrime Caseload
Benin’s CNIN received more than 6,500 complaints in 2025, up from about 4,000 a year earlier. Director general Ouanilo Medegan Fagla presented the figures, La Nouvelle Tribune reported on Thursday, 15 January 2026.
La Nouvelle Tribune gives about 1,500 arrests for the year, while Afrique-Sur7 quotes Fagla at 1,632. The sources differ, and neither figure is tied to Serengeti III.
What It Means for US Readers
The United States was the 21st participant, and its investigators received the same pre-operation intelligence as the African teams. The release does not describe what US agencies did or how many arrests they made.
No bank or other financial institution is named among the partners or the victims. The named partners are technology and security firms, an anti-scam alliance and Zimbabwe’s telecom regulator.
Business email compromise and investment fraud are crimes that US companies and households also face. The release does not say how many victims were American, so 65,929 is not a US figure.
What Is Not Known
Benin’s own arrests, seizures and recovered funds in the operation have not been published. INTERPOL gives country detail only for Uganda, Angola, Nigeria, Tanzania, Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
It is not known how the US$105 million splits between countries or how much returns to victims. INTERPOL also does not say how many victims were American or which financial institutions were affected.
The release does not say how many of the 1,462 suspects have been charged or convicted. Pulse Kenya says investigations remain active, so the totals may change.
What Comes Next
The first source for Benin’s share will be a statement from its own authorities, such as CNIN or bjCSIRT. Until one appears, Benin’s contribution is confirmed only as participation.
None of the published figures shows that Benin made arrests in this round. Later INTERPOL operations in Africa could publish country breakdowns.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Operation Serengeti III?
It is an INTERPOL-coordinated operation against cybercrime in Africa that ran from 29 June to 31 August 2026. It involved 20 African countries and the United States.
What was Benin’s role?
Benin is listed as one of the 21 participating countries. INTERPOL gives no Benin-specific arrests, seizures or recovered amounts.
How much money was recovered?
INTERPOL says more than US$105 million in illicit funds was recovered. Financial investigations linked the activity to losses above US$385 million.
How many people were arrested?
INTERPOL reports 1,462 suspects arrested across the participating countries. Only a few countries, such as Uganda with 365 foreign nationals, have a published breakdown.
Did the United States take part?
Yes, the United States is the 21st participant, and its investigators received pre-operation intelligence. The release does not describe US arrests or victims.
What is business email compromise?
It is a fraud in which criminals impersonate an executive or supplier by email to redirect a payment. INTERPOL lists it among the crimes the operation targeted.
Sources: INTERPOL, 22 October 2026; La Nouvelle Tribune, 22 October 2026; Pulse Kenya, 22 October 2026; Radio47; bjCSIRT, 23 November 2024; INTERPOL, 26 November 2024; La Nouvelle Tribune, 15 January 2026; Afrique-Sur7; Hespress, August 2025 (all accessed 22 October 2026).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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