The International Criminal Police Organization commonly known as the Interpol has run a collaborated international operation, ‘HAECHI-II’ that led to the arrest of 1,003 criminals while intercepting a total of nearly USD 27 million of illicit funds, which were found to be linked to various cyber-crimes such as investment frauds, romance scams, online money laundering, and illegal online gambling. The organization has published more than 50 notices relating to Operation HAECHI-II and discovered 10 new fraudulent schemes. 

The operation that ran for over four months from June to September 2021 — according to the sources — collaborated between specialized police forces coming from 20 countries including the Hong Kong police unit, Angola, Brunei, Cambodia, Colombia, China, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea (Rep. of), Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, and Macao. 

During the operation, Interpol researchers used a new global stop-payment mechanism named as Anti-Money Laundering Rapid Response Protocol (ARRP), which allows researchers to intercept and recover illicit funds. 

The officers blocked 2,350 individuals’ bank accounts that were linked to the illicit proceeds of online financial crime and intercepted over 27 million dollars.

“The results of Operation HAECHI-II show that the surge in online financial crime generated by the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of waning,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock.

“It also underlines the essential and unique role played by INTERPOL in assisting member countries combat a crime which is borderless by nature. “Only through this level of global cooperation and coordination can national law enforcement effectively tackles what is a parallel cybercrime pandemic,” added Secretary General Stock.

HAECHI-II is the second operation in a three-year effort to take down certain types of financially motivated cybercrimes, such as illegal online gambling and romance scams. 

Headquartered in Lyon, France — Interpol is popularly known for its work and operations relating to the prevention and suppression of crimes. The organization provides worldwide police cooperation and crime control, it is the world's largest international police organization, with seven regional bureaus worldwide and a National Central Bureau in all 195 member states.