Scam compounds in Ghana and Nigeria raided as more than 100 suspected trafficking victims identified

Police in Ghana and Nigeria arrested or detained 28 people and identified more than 100 suspected human trafficking victims during an international operation against scam compounds in West Africa, US and British officials announced. The effort, called Joint Disruption Week, was hosted by Britain's National Crime Agency in London and involved 15 law enforcement agencies and 15 tech companies, including Meta, Microsoft and Google.

In Ghana, authorities raided a compound in Sasaabi, outside Accra, arresting 19 people and seizing 303 devices. Nigerian authorities made nine further arrests. Ghanaian police identified 117 people described as trafficking victims, who are awaiting return to Nigeria, along with 89 scam victims who had lost an estimated US$8.3 million. The US Department of Justice said the tech companies removed more than 3.7 million accounts, pages and groups tied to the operations. The schemes included law enforcement impersonation, digital "arrest" extortion, and cryptocurrency investment fraud, also known as "pig butchering".

Officials said more than US$11 million in potentially freezable funds had been identified, but did not say how much has been frozen or seized. The NCA said it is not yet known how many British or American victims were targeted, as forensic work on the seized devices continues. US officials said the operation began with information from Meta.