The FBI says nine of the 28 people arrested in a West African crackdown on scam networks were detained in Nigeria, where authorities also seized 53 electronic devices. FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators had identified $11 million in funds that could potentially be frozen across multiple countries.

Patel disclosed the figures in a post on his official X account as part of Operation Blackout, the FBI’s global campaign against scam centres. The figures provide details that were not included in Meta’s earlier announcement, which did not specify how many arrests took place in Nigeria.

FBI details arrests in Nigeria

Patel thanked “Nigerian law enforcement and our partners in London for their outstanding cooperation,” but did not identify the Nigerian agency involved.

The FBI said Nigerian authorities would prosecute the nine suspects for alleged violations of Nigerian law. The other 19 arrests took place in Ghana, where 117 victims are awaiting repatriation to Nigeria. Meta said those victims had been trafficked, forced to work for scam operations and held in a residential compound. Those repatriations and the prosecution of the nine suspects are the next stages to watch as the operation moves from arrests into the courts.

Patel said the operation targeted scam networks accused of stealing billions of dollars from Americans. He concluded his post by warning criminals operating overseas and targeting Americans that they would be brought to justice.

Comparison with earlier action in Nigeria

The operation was hosted in London by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), together with the US Department of Justice and the FBI. Law enforcement agencies from 10 countries participated, alongside Meta and 14 other technology companies.

Nigeria has previously been involved in smaller joint operations. In February, Meta, the NCA and the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre disrupted a suspected scam centre in Agbor, Delta State. Police arrested seven suspects and seized 26 phones, 42 SIM cards and one laptop. That mix of police agencies and technology platforms mirrors the coalition behind the current operation.

Patel’s post puts the latest Nigerian figures at nine arrests and 53 devices. It followed his warning that scam networks were expanding beyond Southeast Asia and the Middle East into Africa.

The $11 million does not represent recovered money. The FBI described it as funds identified across several countries that could potentially be frozen. Patel’s post did not specify how much, if any, of the funds was linked to Nigeria, leaving open whether any of the identified money is ultimately frozen.

Source: TechNext24