Interpol have announced the arrest of 83 individuals across six African countries for alleged involvement in financing terrorism and other illegal activities.
The agency revealed this in a statement shared on Wednesday on X, stating that the operation carried out by “Operation Catalyst” between July to September is the first of its kind.
The statement reads, “83 arrests in landmark African operation against terrorism financing.”
“A first-of-its-kind operation targeting terrorism financing and the illegal activity supporting it has led to 83 arrests across six African countries and the identification of 160 persons of interest.”
“Operation Catalyst (July – September 2025) aimed to identify and disrupt financial flows and schemes found to have connections to terrorism financing and its support networks.”
“Of the 83 arrests, 21 were for terrorism-related crimes, 28 were for financial fraud and money laundering, 16 were linked to cyber-enabled scams and a further 18 were related to the illicit use of virtual assets.”
“Over the two-month operation, jointly coordinated by INTERPOL and @AFRIPOLOfficial, authorities across participating countries screened more than 15,000 persons of interest and entities, uncovering around USD 260 million in both fiat and virtual currencies potentially linked to terrorism-related activities.”
“Approximately USD 600,000 has already been seized, with additional investigations underway to trace and recover further assets,” the statement ended.
Terrorism has spread to more countries in Africa in recent years as nations battle the security challenges with state administration. In Nigeria, different terrorist groups have also emerged after Boko Haram became the leading terrorist group in the country.