The International Criminal Police Organisation has arrested more than 300 people with links to one of West Africa’s most feared criminal networks, Black Axe, and other affiliated groups.
In a series of covert missions, tagged, “Operation Jackal III” in 21 countries between April and July 2024, Interpol said the highly-coordinated cybercrime group was responsible for some of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud and many other serious crimes, BBC reports Wednesday.
While the police labelled the operation as a “major blow” to the Nigerian crime network, it equally warned of its worldwide reach and technological sophistication — making the Black Axe a global threat.
The report noted that Operation Jackal III had led to the seizure of $3 million of illegal assets and more than 700 bank accounts being frozen.
A senior official at Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, Tomonobu Kaya, stressed the significance of financial technology and cryptocurrency in aiding the operations of cybercrime syndicates which are renowned for multi-million dollar online scams.
He said, “They are very organised and very structured. These criminal syndicates are early adopters of new technologies… A lot of fintech developments make it easy to illegally move money around the world.”
The Black Axe is a secretive criminal network involved in trafficking, prostitution and killing operations around the world. However, cybercrime is the group’s largest source of revenue.
The report noted that several members of the dreaded group are university-educated and were recruited into the group during their schooling.
In a 2022 report by Interpol, it said, “Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud as well as many other serious crimes.”
