Ghana, INTERPOL make strides in crime combat – CID boss
Ghana, in collaboration with INTERPOL and other international law-enforcement partners, has made significant strides in combating transnational organised crime, COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, has said.
Ghana has made significant progress in combating transnational organized crime, according to Lydia Yaako Donkor, Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service. In a statement commemorating the United Nations International Day of Police Cooperation, Donkor highlighted the importance of international police cooperation in addressing increasingly complex crimes that cross national borders.
Over the years, Ghana has been a member of INTERPOL since 1958, and its National Central Bureau (NCB) in Accra plays a crucial role in facilitating international police collaboration.
Donkor detailed the impact of INTERPOL-coordinated operations on Ghana's fight against crime. Operation Contender 3.0, conducted in August 2025 across 14 African countries, resulted in the arrest of 68 suspects, seizure of 835 electronic devices, and identification of 108 victims, leading to estimated financial losses of around $450,000, with $70,000 recovered.
Another example is Operation Sentinel, which took place between October and November 2025 in 19 African countries, leading to the identification of a ransomware strain used in an attack on a Ghanaian institution, recovery of nearly 30 terabytes of data, and arrest of the perpetrators. These operations not only disrupted criminal networks but also protected businesses, recovered savings, secured digital infrastructure, and disrupted criminal networks.
Donkor emphasized that these operations demonstrated that international cooperation extends beyond mere information exchange; it transforms into actionable intelligence that safeguards victims and recovers stolen assets. The theme for the 2026 International Day of Police Cooperation, "Protecting Against Vulnerability; Building Trust and Legitimacy in Policing," underscored the need to focus on vulnerable individuals, such as the four Ghanaian children rescued by collaboration with Australian authorities in January 2026.
Donkor highlighted the priceless value of restoring a child's safety, dignity, and future, reinforcing the necessity of global police cooperation.
She stressed that as transnational organized crime networks evolve, police cooperation must become more global to keep pace. The Ghana Police Service, through the CID and INTERPOL NCB Accra, remains dedicated to collaborating with INTERPOL, African partners, and international law-enforcement agencies to protect victims, dismantle criminal networks, recover criminal assets, pursue fugitives, and foster safer communities.
Donkor concluded by affirming that when police services cooperate, criminals are effectively denied the advantage of national borders, enabling information sharing to safeguard victims and dismantle organized crime.
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