INTERPOL Cracks Down on Black Axe Networks, 58 Arrested in Global Operation

An international police crackdown targeting West African organized crime networks, including the Black Axe group, has resulted in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects across six continents, as investigators intensify efforts to disrupt cyber fraud and the money laundering systems that sustain it.

The operation, codenamed Operation Jackal IV, ran from November 2025 to June 2026 and was coordinated by the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL). It brought together law enforcement agencies from 22 countries, including Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, as well as countries in Europe, North America, Asia, South America and Africa.

INTERPOL said the operation was designed to trace illicit financial flows, identify high-value suspects, recover criminal proceeds and strengthen cases for arrest and prosecution. The agency said the networks under investigation included Black Axe and similar West African criminal groups associated with romance scams, cryptocurrency and investment fraud, business email compromise and other serious crimes.

The figures, however, do not mean that all 58 arrests took place in West Africa. INTERPOL said the arrests were recorded across the participating countries, highlighting the international footprint of the networks being targeted. South Africa accounted for 39 arrests after authorities raided seven locations in Johannesburg linked to a syndicate accused of running romance and investment scams against retirees in English-speaking countries. Investigators seized about $2.67 million and blocked 257 bank accounts.

Argentina was another major focus. Investigators identified 196 people allegedly connected to a Crime-as-a-Service network suspected of supplying website domains and money-laundering support to West African criminal groups. The investigation led to 17 arrests, while an INTERPOL operational support team assisted with analyzing seized data and mapping connections between suspects and networks.

In Romania, police dismantled a group accused of operating an investment scam through a call centre, with investigators estimating that about €143 million had been stolen and laundered globally. Eleven people were arrested and authorities seized cash, cryptocurrency, six properties and luxury watches. In Italy, investigators identified a person linked to a wider money-laundering network in which one account allegedly processed about €845,000 through 560 transactions using 20 financial instruments.

For Black Axe, the latest operation represents another round in a sustained international effort to weaken a network whose activities extend far beyond its traditional West African base. Europol described Black Axe as a highly structured Nigerian criminal organization with an international presence and said investigations have linked members to online fraud and money laundering, alongside other criminal activity.

The latest operation also exposed a changing threat. INTERPOL said investigators found evidence of increased use of sextortion against minors, with victims as young as 14. According to the agency, offenders can approach young people through social media, establish trust, obtain explicit material and then threaten to circulate it unless money is paid.

Investigators also found that some organized crime groups were turning to so-called Crime-as-a-Service providers, including operators using the dark web, to outsource specialized functions such as money laundering. That development suggests that criminal networks are becoming less dependent on a single organization controlling every stage of a fraud operation.

INTERPOL's Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre said following the money across borders is central to dismantling these networks. Tomonobu Kaya, the centre's director, said the operation showed how international cooperation can attack the financial infrastructure that allows organized crime groups to continue operating.

Operation Jackal IV is also the latest chapter in INTERPOL's wider campaign against West African financial crime networks. Its 2024 Operation Jackal III involved 21 countries and resulted in roughly 300 arrests, the identification of more than 400 additional suspects and the blocking of more than 720 bank accounts, with Black Axe among the groups targeted.

The significance of the latest crackdown lies not simply in the 58 arrests, but in what the investigation reveals about the evolution of transnational organized crime. West African-linked criminal networks are increasingly operating through digital platforms, international financial channels and specialized criminal-service providers, meaning arrests in one country may only expose part of a much larger system. For investigators, the challenge now is to turn the intelligence gathered in Jackal IV into prosecutions, asset recoveries and the disruption of the networks' financial infrastructure before new actors move in to replace those arrested.