{"id":112089,"date":"2026-01-21T21:24:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=112089"},"modified":"2026-01-21T21:24:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T21:24:47","slug":"52-foreign-nationals-arrested-in-northern-region-over-human-trafficking-cybercrime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=112089","title":{"rendered":"52 foreign nationals arrested in Northern Region over human trafficking, cybercrime"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 16 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Fifty-two foreign nationals have been arrested by National Security operatives in the Northern Region over their alleged involvement in crimes, including human trafficking, cybercrime, and Ponzi schemes.<\/p>\n

The suspects comprise 12 Ivorians, two Liberians, and 31 nationals from Burkina Faso. An additional seven suspects were later arrested at Fou, a community in the Sagnarigu Municipality, bringing the total number to 52.<\/p>\n

Authorities say the suspects are currently being processed and will be handed over to the Ghana Immigration Service for further action.<\/p>\n

The arrests, according to National Security, form part of intensified efforts to clamp down on cross-border and organised crime in the Northern Region. <\/p>\n

Officials have assured residents that security agencies remain firmly on top of the situation and that the region is safe.<\/p>\n

Speaking to JoyNews<\/strong>\u2019 Martina Bugri, the Northern Regional Security Liaison Officer, RSM Adam Mohammed, disclosed that preliminary profiling revealed that many of the suspects were lured into Ghana under false promises of traveling to Europe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tried to run a profile of each and every one of them, and we realised that some of them had been lured into the country with the hope that they would be taken abroad,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey promised them, and some too were brought in to practise the QNET recruitment scheme. So upon interrogation, we were able to have a breakdown of the activities of each and every one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

RSM Mohammed explained that investigations have uncovered a wider criminal network and that those arrested so far represent only part of the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon thorough interrogation and profiling, we realised that it\u2019s a chain. Those that we have arrested are basically about 45, but they are more than that,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are digging into getting the rest, and very soon, the assurance can be given to the general public that we will get hold of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, one of the suspects who spoke to JoyNews<\/strong> denied any wrongdoing, claiming the arrests were unjustified.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why I was arrested. They just suddenly showed up on us. I asked why they brought us here. We sell products. We are not involved in a scam or any other criminal activity. We were just marketing our products,\u201d the suspect said.<\/p>\n

The suspect explained that language diversity among the group was purely for business purposes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the people here don\u2019t understand us, so we try to speak different languages so they understand what we are selling. Some speak French, others speak English,\u201d the suspect added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been doing this in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire. I speak a little English and I am also eager to learn the language. That is what motivated me to come here for business.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"52Fifty-two foreign nationals have been arrested by National Security operatives in the Northern Region over their alleged involvement in crimes, including human trafficking, cybercrime, and Ponzi schemes.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,15726,8154,3848,1613,10,9,1907],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-cybercrimes","category-foreign-nationals","category-human-trafficking","category-northern-region","category-politics","category-popular","category-regional"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}