Interpol operation nets 5,811 arrests; $122.5M crypto wallet

Operation First Light, led by Interpol, ran from Jan. 15 to April 30, 2026, and involved law enforcement from 97 countries and territories. Authorities arrested 5,811 people and intercepted $293 million in suspected illicit assets.

The operation targeted social engineering frauds, including business email compromise, sextortion, romance and impersonation scams, and related money laundering. Interpol reported more than 142,000 victims were identified, 31,014 bank accounts were blocked, 23,715 cases were solved and 15,606 suspects were identified. Interpol issued 99 international notices and diffusions to share intelligence and coordinate action.

Interpol deployed its Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) mechanism to block suspected fiat and virtual-asset transfers. I-GRIP allows participating agencies to freeze or intercept transactions once links to criminal activity are confirmed, reducing the time available for funds to be moved or converted.

In Thailand, investigators arrested two people after uncovering a crypto laundering method that routed proceeds from romance scams through multiple cryptocurrencies. One suspect, 20 years old, used a digital wallet that processed more than $122.5 million over about 10 months. Officials described the scheme as using cross-chain token swaps, which move tokens between different blockchains to make tracing more difficult.

Other enforcement actions took place in several countries. Police in Eswatini arrested 82 people in a network that combined illegal online gambling, impersonation and money laundering and used a fake Brazilian police station to convince victims to transfer funds for “safekeeping.” Authorities in Singapore and Oman intercepted a $6.6 million transfer tied to a business email compromise scheme. Macao police prevented a victim from sending nearly $372,000 to fraudsters posing as public officials. Palau deported 22 people accused of operating hotel-based scam centers that used cryptocurrency and illegal gambling websites to target overseas victims.

Tomonobu Kaya, director of the Interpol Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, said, “Social engineering scams continue to pose a significant threat to our society. Criminal syndicates exploit human psychology to manipulate their targets, and no nation can stay safe unless all countries are equipped and committed to jointly fighting back.” He added that Interpol supports member countries in building joint strategies to address cyber-enabled financial crime, organized criminal networks and the money laundering that sustains them.