Interpol has apprehended a 37-year-old Nigerian man alleged to be the leader of the global SilverTerrier transnational cybercrime syndicate after an 11-month investigation.
The suspect, whose name is yet to be revealed, was arrested at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) cybercrime unit.
In a statement on Wednesday, Interpol said SilverTerrier arrest struck a major blow against the cybercrime group, responsible for mass phishing attacks and business email compromise (BEC) scams aimed at stealing money from companies around the world.
Interpol said that the arrest was an international operation spanning four continents, coordinated and facilitated by its recently created Africa operations desk within INTERPOL’s cybercrime directorate.
It was gathered that the suspect ran out of the country in 2021 when authorities initially made an attempt to arrest him. But, in March 2022, he wanted to return to Nigeria and was quickly identified and detained.
The Head of Nigeria’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau and Vice President for Africa on INTERPOL’s Executive Committee, Garba Baba Umar, said: “The arrest of this alleged prominent cyber-criminal in Nigeria is a testament to the perseverance of our international coalition of law enforcement and INTERPOL’s private sector partners in combating cybercrime.
“I hope the results of Operation Delilah will stand as a reminder to cyber-criminals across the world that law enforcement will continue to pursue them, and that this arrest will bring comfort to victims of the suspect’s alleged campaigns.”
