The Ghana Police Service, in collaboration with INTERPOL and security agencies in Nigeria, has rescued a total of 76 Ghanaian victims of human trafficking connected to the QNET network marketing scheme, which has been flagged in Ghana and other West African countries for fraudulent activities.
At a press briefing in Accra on Monday, June 30, 2025, the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), DCOP Lydia Yaako Donkor, revealed that the victims were rescued in separate operations across Nigeria between May 19 and June 27, 2025. Seven Ghanaian suspects are currently in custody in Nigeria assisting with investigations.
“In Agbara, Ogun State, 30 victims were rescued on May 19, and another 15 were rescued in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on June 22,” DCOP Donkor stated. She added that the Ghana Police Service is working to reunite the victims with their families.
The briefing also disclosed that between May 6 and 22, 2025, the Ghana Police rescued 48 victims of various nationalities—Burkinabé, Ivorian, Cameroonian, and Guinean—who had been lured into Ghana under false pretenses. Two suspects, one from Côte d’Ivoire and another from Burkina Faso, have been arrested and are assisting with investigations.
DCOP Donkor described the operation of the trafficking syndicates as elaborate and deceptive, preying on vulnerable individuals with promises of football contracts, jobs abroad, or educational opportunities. “Victims are young, energetic persons aged 17 years and above, both employed and unemployed,” she noted.
The victims are typically made to pay large sums of money—ranging from USD 1,000 to over 2 million CFA francs—and travel by road to foreign countries. Upon arrival, they are confined in overcrowded rooms under poor conditions, have their phones and documents seized, and are coerced into scamming others under the guise of a “QNET opportunity.”
Many victims end up defrauding their own families out of desperation. “Victims who are rescued are sometimes so frail and malnourished that they cannot go back to the activities they were previously engaged in,” Donkor stated.
QNET was formally dissolved in Ghana in July 2022 following a court order deeming its operations fraudulent and illegal. Similar bans have been imposed across the region.
DCOP Donkor urged the public to be vigilant and verify job and travel offers. “Persons found culpable of luring others… will be arrested and prosecuted,” she said, while commending the Police Anti-Human Trafficking Unit and INTERPOL for their “professionalism and swift response.”
