By The Epoch Times | Created at 2026-10-09 16:06:58 | Updated at 2026-10-09 17:21:07
1 hour ago
FBI Director Kash Patel said on Thursday that a raid in Ghana, part of the bureau’s operation against scam centers, led to more than 130 people being arrested or detained.
Patel announced that the FBI’s Operation Blackout identified nearly $10 million in losses, identified 89 victims, and resulted in the seizure of more than 300 devices.
The arrest figure includes victims who will be sent back to their home countries, according to Patel’s X post.
“These scam compounds target American citizens and destroy lives,” he wrote, adding that the investigation is ongoing.
FBI’s Wider Campaign
As part of Operation Blackout, the FBI has seized roughly $17 billion in illicit funds, made hundreds of arrests, and freed thousands of trafficked workers, according to Patel.
He added that the bureau has warned more than 10,000 Americans before they lost their money, preventing an estimated $670 million in losses.
In August, Patel told The Epoch Times that FBI agents shut down 8,000 terminals connecting the scammers to the rest of the world, “depriving them of the very oxygen they need to operate.”
The scam centers are operated by Chinese criminal syndicates that built their wealth through casinos and online gambling in the 2000s.
As Chinese authorities tightened regulations, the groups moved their operations to loosely regulated border areas in Southeast Asia, particularly Cambodia, Laos, and Burma, where they forged alliances with corrupt officials and military factions.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Patel said that Operation Blackout takes apart such scam compounds worldwide, adding that they primarily target senior citizens.
Ghana’s Response
Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority (CSA) disputed Patel’s account, saying Ghanaian agencies planned and carried out the operation.
The agency said that it “rejects any portrayal of the operation as independently conceived, commanded or executed by the FBI,” in a Thursday press release.
The statement said the operation, also known as Operation Cyber Hunt, was led and coordinated by Ghanaian authorities, with support from international partners, including the FBI and the U.K.’s National Crime Agency.
“Foreign law enforcement agencies have no independent authority to exercise police powers or conduct arrests within Ghana,” it said.
While the CSA acknowledged the “valuable intelligence contributions” of the FBI and the UK agency, it said their roles “must be described accurately,” and it called on the FBI to clarify its public account.
Ghanaian Communications Minister Sam George also addressed Patel directly in a post on X.
George said the fight against cybercrime “is transnational and requires collaboration,” but added that suggesting the FBI acted alone “undermines the potential for future collaboration.”
He said he expected Patel to reflect on the benefits of continued cooperation “and act accordingly.”
The Ghanaian release offered its own figures, saying authorities arrested eight suspects and rescued 120 people they suspect were trafficked and exploited for online fraud.
Investigators seized 136 mobile phones, 130 laptops, internet connection devices, and four motor vehicles, according to the release. One vehicle was stolen from Canada. They also recovered jewelry and 10 Nigerian passports. The rescued victims were largely Nigerians, the authority said, and officials are working to send them home.
