INTERPOL Arrests 58 in West African Cyber Fraud Crackdown

A global law enforcement operation targeting West African organized crime has resulted in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects.

INTERPOL calls Operation Jackal IV a response to the escalating threat from West African criminal networks, including Black Axe. It ran from November 2025 to June 2026 across 22 countries on six continents, targeting money laundering and cyber-enabled fraud.

The arrests included 39 in South Africa, where police raided seven Johannesburg sites tied to romance and investment scams aimed at retirees, seized $2.67 million, and froze 257 bank accounts. Argentina accounted for 17 more, after investigators identified 196 people suspected of supplying domains and laundering services to West African gangs. Romanian authorities separately shut down a call-center investment scam that laundered €143 million ($166 million).

Tomonobu Kaya, Director of the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, said:

Operation Jackal IV demonstrates the power of international cooperation. By following illicit financial flows across borders, we are attacking the very lifeblood of organized crime and making it increasingly difficult for criminal networks to profit from their activities.

INTERPOL noted that syndicates are increasingly outsourcing laundering to Crime-as-a-Service providers on the dark web, lowering the barrier to entry for new actors and giving banks a wider set of counterparties to screen.