The Ghana Police Service has arrested three Nigerian nationals over alleged involvement in SIM box fraud, a cyber-enabled crime linked to massive revenue losses in the telecommunications sector.
The suspects — Timileyin Fakunle, 30; Begun Adedeji, 33; and Olamide Roheemot, 28 — were arrested on Friday at the Sakumono Ramsar Site in Accra during a coordinated operation by the Accra Regional Police Command.
According to the police, the suspects were part of a syndicate that used SIM box devices to illegally reroute international calls and mask them as local calls, thereby bypassing international termination charges owed to mobile network operators.
Items recovered from the suspects’ hideout included SIM box machines capable of hosting hundreds of SIM cards, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateways, laptops, routers, high-gain antennas, large volumes of registered and unregistered Ghanaian SIM cards, and backup power systems.
A police source said the operation disrupted a sophisticated network believed to have been active for months, causing significant financial losses to telecom operators and the Ghanaian economy.
“The suspects allegedly deployed advanced hardware to manipulate call routing systems, diverting international traffic and generating illegal profits,” the source said. “Investigations are ongoing to dismantle the wider network behind the operation.”
The police disclosed that three other suspects — identified as Mike, Kpalumi, and a Chinese national known as Tomy — are currently on the run. Tomy is believed to be a key financier and supplier of the specialised equipment used by the syndicate.
The arrested suspects are in police custody and are expected to be arraigned in court upon the conclusion of investigations.
The Ghana Police Service said the arrests form part of intensified efforts, in collaboration with regulatory agencies and telecom operators, to clamp down on SIM box fraud and other cyber-enabled crimes, which authorities say continue to undermine national revenue, network integrity, and consumer trust.
SIM box fraud, also known as international revenue share fraud, has become a growing concern across West Africa, with security agencies warning that the crime is often linked to transnational syndicates exploiting weak telecom monitoring systems and cross-border mobility.
Police urged members of the public and telecom service providers to remain vigilant and report suspicious telecom-related activities to security agencies.
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