Garoua-Boulaï police dismantle criminal network linked to 25 murders

Police in Garoua-Boulaï, Cameroon, have dismantled a criminal network responsible for a series of violent attacks that resulted in the deaths of 25 people over a five-month period between April and August 2026.

The operation, led by the East Regional Judicial Police Division under Commissioner Hervé Djeumo, led to the arrest of six suspects. Among those apprehended is an escaped prisoner named Hassan, who was previously serving a ten-year sentence for murder. The group is suspected of luring victims, including motorcycle taxi drivers, to isolated areas to kill them and steal their vehicles.

Authorities also linked the group to the stabbing death of a customs official in Koza and a brutal assault on a police officer at the Garoua-Boulaï municipal stadium. On September 11, 2026, officials conducted a reconstruction of the crime scenes in the presence of local administrative and judicial authorities.