The international police in what was termed as “Operation Jackal III” noted that these operations had led to the seizure of $3 million of illegal assets and more than 700 bank accounts being frozen.
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has revealed that it has arrested more than 300 people with links to one of West Africa’s most feared criminal networks, Black Axe, and other affiliated groups.
The international police in what was termed as “Operation Jackal III” noted that these operations had led to the seizure of $3 million of illegal assets and more than 700 bank accounts being frozen.
It was stated that 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.
PUNCH reports that 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.”
The police labelled the operation as a “major blow” to the Nigerian crime network, while equally warning of its worldwide reach and technological sophistication.
They also tagged the Black Axe a global threat.
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.”
In one example, Canadian authorities said they busted a money-laundering scheme linked to Black Axe worth more than $5 billion (£3.8bn) in 2017.
Dealing with highly sophisticated criminal groups requires a high level of technological expertise and personnel.
Interpol also said it had launched the Global Rapid Intervention of Payments system which enables the authorities in its 196-member countries to freeze bank accounts around the world with unprecedented speed.