Fifty-eight people linked to organised West African cybercrime networks have been arrested across 22 countries and six continents in a major international operation targeting romance and investment scams.
The operation, codenamed Operation Jackal IV, was coordinated by the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) between November 2025 and June 2026 and identified 263 suspects connected to criminal networks accused of cyber-enabled financial fraud.
Interpol said the operation focused on dismantling networks, including the Nigerian-origin Black Axe group, believed to be responsible for a significant proportion of cyber-enabled financial fraud globally.
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The operation also uncovered emerging criminal tactics, including sextortion schemes targeting minors, with some victims as young as 14 years old.
According to Interpol, Operation Jackal IV examined how organised criminal groups carried out financial fraud, including cryptocurrency investment scams and business email compromise schemes, while laundering proceeds across multiple jurisdictions.
The agency said retirees in English-speaking countries were among the most frequent targets of the scams.
“By following illicit financial flows across borders, we are attacking the very lifeblood of organised crime and making it increasingly difficult for criminal networks to profit from their activities,” Director of Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, Tomonobu Kaya, said.
“Operation Jackal IV demonstrates the power of international cooperation,” he explained.
Interpol said it supported participating countries through intelligence sharing, cross-border coordination and specialised training in money-laundering investigations.
Preliminary findings from the operation included arrests in Argentina, Italy, Romania and South Africa, while investigations remained ongoing.
In South Africa, authorities conducted coordinated raids on seven locations linked to a syndicate allegedly involved in romance and investment fraud schemes. Interpol officers assisted local law enforcement agencies during the operations in Johannesburg.
South African police arrested 39 suspects, seized assets worth 2.67 million dollars and blocked 257 bank accounts linked to the network.
Interpol said the West African criminal networks were also involved in a range of serious offences beyond cyber-enabled fraud.
Operation Jackal IV forms part of a series of international law enforcement actions launched since 2022 to disrupt organised crime networks operating across West Africa and beyond.
In 2024, Operation Jackal III led to the arrest of 300 individuals linked to Black Axe and affiliated groups.
Interpol described Black Axe as a transnational criminal network that has been associated with trafficking, prostitution and killings in several countries.
The agency added that Nigeria had been identified as a major recruitment base for the group, with some members reportedly recruited while attending university.
BBC
