Police units from around the world have joined forces in a series of covert operations aimed at targeting one of West Africa’s most feared criminal networks: Black Axe.
As part of Operation Jackal III, officers equipped with body armor carried out raids in 21 countries between April and July 2024.
The mission, coordinated by the global police agency Interpol, led to the arrest of 300 people linked to Black Axe and other affiliated groups.
Interpol called the operation a “serious blow” to the Nigerian criminal network, but warned that its international reach and technological sophistication made it a global threat.
In one high-profile example, Canadian authorities said they had dismantled a money laundering scheme linked to Black Axe, worth more than $5 billion (£3.8 billion) in 2017.
“They are very organised and very structured,” Tomonobu Kaya, a senior official at Interpol’s Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes Centre, told the BBC.
According to a 2022 Interpol report, “Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of cyber-financial fraud worldwide, as well as many other serious crimes.”
Mr Kaya said innovations in money transfer software and cryptocurrencies had played into the hands of the group, known for multi-million dollar online scams.
“These criminal syndicates are early adopters of new technologies… A lot of fintech developments make it really easy to move money illegally around the world,” he said.
The Ultraviolent Cult That Became a Global Mafia
Operation Jackal III lasted for years and resulted in the seizure of $3 million in illicit assets and the freezing of more than 700 bank accounts.
Many members of Black Axe have a college education and are recruited while in college.
The organization is a secret criminal network that runs drug trafficking, prostitution and murder all over the world.
The organization’s main source of income is cybercrime, targeting individuals and businesses.
Since 2022, numerous police operations called “Jackal” have taken place.
Dozens of Black Axe and other gang members have been arrested and their electronic devices seized during these cross-border raids. This work has enabled Interpol to build a vast intelligence database, which is now shared with officials in all 196 member countries.
“We need data and to compare our findings from these countries to help build a picture of their modus operandi,” Kaya said.
Despite numerous arrests internationally, some experts believe that not enough is being done to address the roots of these criminal organizations in West Africa.
“The emphasis must be on prevention, not on outright operations against these criminal groups,” said Dr Oluwole Ojewale, regional coordinator for West Africa at the Institute for Security Studies.
Nigeria, which has seen widespread anti-corruption protests in recent weeks, is one of Africa’s largest economies but has as many as 87 million people living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. It is also a major recruiting ground for Black Axe.
Interpol said it had conducted training exercises with key Nigerian stakeholders and police officials. But corruption and allegations of collusion between Black Axe and local authorities remain major obstacles.
“It is the politicians who are actually arming these guys,” Dr Ojewale said. “The general failure of governance in the country has put pressure on people to be initiated [into Black Axe].”
Despite their current global reach, Interpol’s Jackal Operations originated in Ireland.
Following a series of police raids conducted by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) in 2020, several members of Black Axe were arrested, paving the way for the unmasking of a much larger network.
“They were very discreet and very low-key,” said Michael Cryan, GNECB Detective Superintendent, who led the operation.
“The amount of money laundered through Ireland was astronomical,” he added.
Police subsequently identified 1,000 people linked to Black Axe in Ireland and made hundreds of arrests for fraud and cyber crime.
“Bank robberies are now carried out with laptops – they are much more sophisticated,” said Detective Superintendent Cryan.
It estimates that €200 million ($220 million; £170 million) has been stolen online in Ireland over the past five years, representing only 20% of cyber crime believed to be reported.
“This is not a typical or ordinary crime… People making decisions need to know how serious this is,” he said.
Irish police operations in November 2023 revealed that cryptocurrency, which can be sent quickly between digital wallets around the world, is becoming an integral part of Black Axe’s money laundering operations.
In a single operation, more than 1 million euros in cryptocurrencies were seized.
To try to cope with these innovations, Interpol has implemented a new technology, launching the Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) system.
The mechanism, which allows authorities in member countries to freeze bank accounts around the world with unprecedented speed, was used to foil a $40 million scam against a Singaporean company last month.
Interpol’s Mr Kaya said such technology would make it harder for criminals to move money across borders with impunity.
Police around the world are engaged in a vigorous effort to gather and share intelligence on Black Axe and other West African labor organizations.
“If we can collect this data we can act,” he said. [BBC]
The post Nigerian Mafia Black Axe Dealt ‘Major Blow’ to Interpol – Report appeared first on TheConclaveNg.
