Operation "First Light 2026": 5,800 suspects arrested worldwide

In a large-scale, global operation involving 97 countries, law enforcement agencies arrested 5,811 suspects and seized illicit assets worth US$293 million. The operation “First Light 2026”, coordinated by Interpol from mid-January to the end of April, focused on combating social engineering fraud, including business email compromise, sextortion, romance scams, identity theft, and investment fraud, and related money laundering activities.

“This included proactive steps against high-value targets, raids on identified premises, blocking or freezing bank accounts and virtual wallets, requesting Interpol Notices and Diffusions [wanted notices and communications, editor's note], as well as the proactive use of I-GRIP (Global Rapid Intervention of Payments),” Interpol writes in a statement . I-GRIP refers to a payment stop mechanism that enables the rapid blocking of illicit financial flows – in both fiat and virtual assets.

As part of “First Light 2026”, Interpol reported that more than 142,000 victims were identified worldwide, 31,014 bank accounts were blocked, and in addition to those arrested, 15,606 further suspects were identified. In Eswatini, for example, police arrested 82 people and dismantled a criminal network involved in illegal online gambling, money laundering, and sophisticated fraud schemes using false identities. Among the items seized was a deceptively realistic replica of a Brazilian police station – complete with fake uniforms, signage, and equipment. The fraudsters impersonated their victims by posing as Brazilian federal police officers via video calls, tricking them into transferring funds for “safekeeping” which were then stolen.

In Thailand, police arrested two individuals and uncovered a money laundering scheme where illegally obtained funds from romance scams were transferred into various cryptocurrencies. In Singapore and Oman, authorities used the I-GRIP procedure to block an illegal transfer of US$6.6 million linked to a business email compromise fraud.

The “First Light 2026” operation was funded by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and supported by the regional police organizations ASEANAPOL, GCCPOL, and Europol. Participating countries included Austria, Denmark, France, Liechtenstein, Great Britain, and the United States; Switzerland and Germany were not involved.

“Criminal networks exploit human psychology to manipulate their victims. No country can be safe unless all states have the necessary equipment and are determined to act together against it,” explained Tomonobu Kaya, Head of Interpol's Centre for Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption. Interpol supports member states in “developing a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to combat cyber-enabled financial crime, organized criminal networks, and related money laundering.”

The “First Light 2026” operation follows the global operation “Synergia !II” against cybercrime , which took 45,000 IP addresses and servers offline and led to the arrest of 94 individuals. Prior to this, a large-scale raid in numerous African countries in December 2025 and January 2026 resulted in the arrest of 651 suspects and the seizure of over US$4.3 million. The operation, named “Red Card 2.0”, targeted criminal networks behind high-yield investment scams, mobile money fraud, and fraudulent credit schemes. It was the second major coordinated action against cybercrime across Africa within a few months. In the operation “Serengeti 2.0” in 18 African states last August, authorities arrested 1,209 individuals and seized nearly US$100 million.

This article was originally published in German . It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.