The international criminal network Black Axe and major West African criminal organizations have suffered a severe blow. The blow was dealt by Operation Jackal IV, a global offensive coordinated by INTERPOL that concluded with 58 arrests and the seizure of $2.67 million in illicit assets—the latest and, so far, most extensive chapter in a series of international operations that has kept Nigerian and West African criminal networks under pressure since 2022. In South Africa alone, $2.67 million was seized and 257 bank accounts were frozen, as part of an operation that led to the arrest of 39 individuals linked to the group. The operation was conducted between November 2025 and June 2026, marking eight months of investigations across six continents with the active participation of 22 countries in a highly complex international cooperation effort. At the heart of the investigation are illicit activities tied to digital financial fraud: from online romance scams (where victims are emotionally manipulated to strip them of their savings) to fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, a technique whereby criminals pose as suppliers or corporate executives to divert legitimate payments to their own accounts. The global danger posed by these networks and the strategy adopted to counter them were reiterated by INTERPOL leadership. Tomonobu Kaya, Director of the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, explained that the operation targeted the economic heart of these criminal organizations rather than individual affiliates.”By following illicit financial flows across borders, we are attacking the lifeblood of organized crime, making it increasingly difficult for these networks to profit from their activities,” Kaya stated. In official press releases, the international agency also highlighted that this mega-operation responds to an escalation of the criminal threat tied to groups like Black Axe, which—according to INTERPOL—is responsible for “a significant share of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud… as well as other serious and violent crimes.” Black Axe is one of the most dangerous and structured transnational criminal organizations in West Africa, operating on a global scale with a rigid hierarchical division and affiliation rituals based on strict blood oaths. Its main criminal sectors include, alongside cybercrime and financial fraud, human trafficking, exploitation, and drug trafficking. The operation led to the arrest of 58 suspects and the identification of 263 other subjects across 22 different nations, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Italy, Nigeria, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Argentine axis was particularly prominent: 196 individuals linked to an extensive Crime-as-a-Service (CaaS) network were identified. CaaS is a “subscription-based” crime model that provides West African criminal organizations with logistical support, web domains, and money laundering services. In this ecosystem, informal or organized groups sell, rent, or offer illegal services to other criminals, exactly as legitimate companies offer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Instead of having to develop advanced technical skills from scratch, anyone with sufficient funds can purchase ready-to-use packages to commit large-scale cybercrime. The area saw the deployment of an INTERPOL Operational Support Team on the ground, sent to assist local authorities during the most delicate phases of the investigations, which culminated in 17 specific arrests. Despite significant asset seizures and the disruption of several money laundering cells, INTERPOL specified that numerous investigations linked to Operation Jackal IV remain open due to the complexity and transnational nature of cyber financial crimes: money, servers, digital identities, and accomplices can be located across different continents, making each investigation a puzzle that requires the simultaneous coordination of multiple jurisdictions. Operation Jackal IV thus fits into a long-term strategy with which INTERPOL has been progressively trying to erode the financial infrastructure of West African criminal networks since 2022, striking them not only through arrests, but above all by cutting off access to the money flows that ensure their survival.
