INTERPOL HQ

🚨126 terrorism suspects identified in online operation targeting terrorist networks

During Operation Shams II, specialized officers and experts from 11 countries extracted 108,076 facial images from visual content published by jihadist groups.

They then used programmed AI agents and advanced AI-generated scripts to collect information and narrow the dataset to 6,362 unique facial images ready for processing through INTERPOL's Facial Recognition System.

AI-generated output was subject to review and verification by trained officers and analysts, in accordance with INTERPOL's Rules on the Processing of Data.

Intelligence gathered on the Foreign Terrorist Fighters identified so far has been added to INTERPOL's global databases to enrich existing suspect profiles and disrupt terrorist movements.

➡️ 🔗 https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Events/News/2026/Counter-terrorism-operation-leverages-artificial-intelligence-to-identify-126-terrorism-suspects

Two Renoir paintings stolen from a museum in southern France have been added to our Stolen Works of Art database.

🎨 Madame Colonna Romano
🖼️ Femme au puits

While fleeing, the thieves abandoned two other paintings in the museum garden, which have been retrieved.

🔗 https://www.interpol.int/Crimes/Cultural-heritage-crime/Stolen-Works-of-Art-Database

Regional police cooperation is a critical line of defence against transnational crime.

This week in Cairo, INTERPOL gathered police chiefs and regional partners from across the Middle East and North Africa to identify where increased coordination can counter shared threats.

From disrupting illicit supply chains to tackling human trafficking, migrant smuggling and illicit finance, the focus is on turning closer cooperation into action.

➡️🔗 https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Events/News/2026/Police-Chiefs-from-Middle-East-and-North-Africa-convene-to-tackle-evolving-regional-crime-threats

This necklace, stolen from an exhibit at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts, has just been added to our Stolen Works of Art database by Austrian authorities.

The piece, adorned with 673 diamonds, once belonged to Queen Nazli of Egypt.

https://www.interpol.int/Crimes/Cultural-heritage-crime/Stolen-Works-of-Art-Database

🫆 Strengthening border security in The Gambia

In a coordinated effort, officers from immigration, police, customs, prison authorities and the INTERPOL National Central Bureau were recently deployed to various locations near the capital.

Equipped with mobile devices allowing instant, frontline access to INTERPOL’s databases, officers checked identity documents, fingerprints and vehicles, looking to detect individuals involved in terrorism, drug or human trafficking.

More than 13,000 database queries were conducted during the two week operation, including 748 checks through the Biometric Hub.

74 stolen motor vehicles were identified.

The operation was held under Project Identity, which provides training, capacity building and technical support to Gambian authorities, facilitating wider use of INTERPOL tools to ensure global collaboration.

🚨 An eight-month operation targeting West African organized crime groups has led to 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects.

Groups such as the Black Axe pose an escalating global threat, responsible for a significant share of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud, including:

🔵 Romance scams
🔵 Cryptocurrency and investment fraud
🔵 Business email compromise

Bringing together 22 countries from six continents, Operation Jackal IV targeted high-value targets, money laundering schemes and illicit assets to support arrests and facilitate prosecution.

🔗 Details: https://www.interpol.int/News-and-Events/News/2026/58-arrests-in-global-effort-to-dismantle-West-African-organized-crime-groups

🚨 INTERPOL has seen a significant increase in the number of identified victims of child sexual exploitation in recent years.

In the first seven months of 2026, nearly 5,800 new victims have been identified through INTERPOL's International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database.

In 2025, we saw the largest annual increase in identifications since ICSE’s creation in 2011.

This increase reflects global efforts to combat child sexual exploitation, including:

🔵 The creation of dedicated national victim identification units
🔵 Expanded victim identification task forces
🔵 Stronger cross-border coordination

But these efforts tell only part of the story.

The rise in victim identifications is also linked to a growing number of cases involving children who are coerced, manipulated or sextorted into producing self-generated abuse material. These cases often generate large volumes of media per victim, increasing the likelihood of detection.

INTERPOL's Crimes Against Children unit works to:

🔵 Locate and safeguard child victims
🔵 Block access to child sexual abuse material
🔵 Identify offenders

Read more: https://www.interpol.int/en/Crimes/Crimes-against-children/Victim-identification