Illegal Bitcoin Crackdown

INTERPOL: 1209 Cyber Crooks Nabbed

- Ciaran Ryan

Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organisation, working with local law enforcement across multiple African countries, says 1209 cybercriminals responsible for targeting nearly 88,000 victims have been arrested.

The operation dismantled 11,432 malicious infrastructures and recovered $97.4 million (about R1.7 billion).

Part of the Interpol-coordinated operation focused on illegal bitcoin mining in Angola, where 25 cryptocurrency mining centres operated by 60 Chinese nationals were shut down.

The crackdown in Angola identified 45 illicit power stations, which were confiscated along with mining and IT equipment worth more than $37 million.

This equipment will now be used to support power distribution in vulnerable areas.

Angola had become popular for bitcoin mining due to low energy costs, prompting the government to ban the activity in 2024 to spare its energy grid.