Interpol deals Nigeria’s mafia ‘serious blow’

Police units around the world have joined forces for a series of covert operations to combat one of West Africa’s most feared criminal networks: Black Axe.

As part of Operation Jackal III, officers in body armor conducted raids in 21 countries between April and July 2024.

The mission, coordinated by the international police agency Interpol, resulted in the arrest of 300 people with links to Black Axe and other associated groups.

Interpol described the operation as a “serious blow” to the Nigerian criminal network, but warned that it remained a global threat due to its international reach and sophisticated technology.

In one notorious example, Canadian authorities said they had uncovered a money laundering scheme linked to Black Axe worth over $5 billion (£3.8 billion) in 2017.

“They are very well organised and structured,” Tomonobu Kaya, a senior official at Interpol’s Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption Centre, told the BBC.

According to a 2022 Interpol report, “Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of global cyber financial fraud, 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, which was known for multi-million dollar online fraud.

“These criminal syndicates are at the forefront of using new technologies… Many developments in fintech make it really easy to transfer money illegally around the world,” he said.

Operation Jackal III lasted years and resulted in the seizure of three million dollars worth of illegal assets and the freezing of over 700 bank accounts.

Many members of Black Axe have a university education and are recruited while they are still in school.

The organization is a secret criminal network that is active worldwide in the areas of human trafficking, prostitution and murder.

The organization’s largest source of income is cybercrime directed against individuals and companies.

Since 2022, there have been several so-called “Jackal” police operations.

These cross-border raids resulted in dozens of members of the Black Axe and other gangs being arrested and their electronic devices confiscated. This work has enabled Interpol to build an extensive intelligence database that is now shared with officials in all 196 member countries.

“We need to have data and gather our insights from these countries to get a picture of how they are doing,” Kaya said.

Despite numerous international arrests, some experts believe that not enough is being done to combat the root causes of these crime syndicates in West Africa.

“The focus really needs to be on prevention rather than outright operations against these criminal groups,” said Dr. Oluwole Ojewale, West Africa Regional Coordinator of the Institute for Security Studies.

Nigeria, where major protests against corruption have taken place in recent weeks, is one of Africa’s largest economies. But according to the World Bank, 87 million people live below the poverty line. The country is also Black Axe’s main recruitment area.

Interpol said it was conducting 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 boys,” said Dr. Ojewale. “The general failure of governance in the country has increased the pressure to initiate people. [into Black Axe].”

Despite their global reach today, Interpol’s Jackal operations originated in Ireland.

Following a series of raids by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) in 2020, some members of the Black Axe were arrested, paving the way for the uncovering of a much larger network.

“They were very inconspicuous and kept a low profile,” said Michael Cryan, a detective at the GNECB, which led the operation.

“The amount of money laundered through Ireland was astronomical,” he added.

Police subsequently identified 1,000 people with links to Black Axe in Ireland and arrested hundreds of people for fraud and cybercrime.

“Bank robberies are now carried out using laptops – they are much more sophisticated,” said Det Supt Cryan.

He estimates that €200 million ($220 million or £170 million) has been stolen online in Ireland over the past five years, and that’s just the 20 percent of cybercrime that’s supposed to be reported.

“This is not a typical or ordinary crime… Decision makers need to know how serious this is,” he said.

Irish police operations in November 2023 revealed that cryptocurrencies – which can be sent quickly between digital wallets around the world – were becoming an integral part of Black Axe’s money laundering operations.

In one operation, crypto assets worth over 1 million euros were seized.

To accommodate these innovations, Interpol has deployed its own new technology and introduced the Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) system.

The mechanism, which allows member country authorities to freeze bank accounts around the world with unprecedented speed, was used last month to stop a $40 million fraud targeting a Singapore company.

Interpol’s Mr Kaya said such technology would make it harder for criminals to transfer money across borders with impunity.

There is currently a major police effort to collect and share information on Black Axe and other West African syndicates worldwide.

“If we can collect this data, we can take action,” he said.