The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has arrested 58 people and identified 263 suspects in an eight-month international crackdown on West African organised crime networks accused of driving large-scale cyber-enabled financial fraud and other serious offences across the world.
The operation, code-named Operation Jackal IV, ran from November 2025 to June 2026 and brought together law enforcement authorities from 22 countries across six continents in a coordinated effort to disrupt criminal networks, trace illicit financial flows, seize assets and support arrests and prosecutions.
INTERPOL said the operation targeted West African organised crime groups, including the Black Axe and similar networks, which have become increasingly associated with romance scams, cryptocurrency and investment fraud, business email compromise and other forms of cyber-enabled crime.
The international police organisation said the crime groups were also linked to serious and violent offences, prompting a coordinated response involving intelligence sharing, cross-border investigations and specialised support for financial crime investigations.
The Director of INTERPOL’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, Tomonobu Kaya, said the operation showed how international cooperation could weaken organised crime by attacking the money sustaining criminal networks.
“By following illicit financial flows across borders, we are attacking the very lifeblood of organised crime and making it increasingly difficult for criminal networks to profit from their activities,” Kaya said.
The operation produced major breakthroughs in several countries, with authorities uncovering sophisticated fraud networks, money-laundering schemes and criminal service providers allegedly supporting West African organised crime groups.
In Argentina, investigators identified 196 individuals allegedly involved in a major Crime-as-a-Service network suspected of providing website domains and money-laundering support to West African criminal groups.
The investigation resulted in 17 arrests, while an INTERPOL Operational Support Team was deployed to analyse seized data, identify suspects and criminal networks, and assist authorities in developing further investigative leads.
In South Africa, police raided seven locations in Johannesburg linked to a syndicate accused of running romance and investment scams targeting retirees in English-speaking countries.
Investigators uncovered an organised operation in which members worked as “conversion” and “retention” agents at different stages of the fraud process.
The operation resulted in 39 arrests, the seizure of $2.67 million and the blocking of 257 bank accounts, according to INTERPOL.
Italy also uncovered a pan-European money-laundering network allegedly using shell companies, remittance services and cash withdrawals to conceal criminal proceeds.
INTERPOL said that a single account was used to launder €845,000 through 560 transactions involving 20 different financial instruments.
In Romania, authorities dismantled a sophisticated investment scam operated through a call centre that allegedly promised victims high returns from stocks and cryptocurrencies.
Investigators estimated that about €143 million was stolen and laundered globally through the scheme.
Police arrested 11 suspects and recovered about €330,000 in cash and cryptocurrency, as well as six real estate properties and several luxury watches.
Beyond the arrests and seizures, Operation Jackal IV exposed emerging methods being adopted by organised crime networks, including the growing use of sextortion against minors.
INTERPOL said investigations showed that some West African criminal groups were increasingly targeting children through social media, with victims as young as 14 being manipulated into sharing explicit images or videos before being threatened with exposure unless they paid money.
The organisation also found evidence that some criminal syndicates were turning to external Crime-as-a-Service providers, including those operating through the dark web, to outsource activities such as money laundering and other key elements of their criminal operations.
INTERPOL said the trend demonstrated the increasingly commercialised nature of organised cybercrime, with criminal groups able to purchase specialised services instead of carrying out every stage of their operations themselves.
Despite the preliminary successes, the international police organisation stressed that many cases uncovered during Operation Jackal IV remain under investigation.
The operation involved Austria, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
INTERPOL said the coordinated operation underscored the importance of following illicit funds across jurisdictions, strengthening intelligence sharing and improving the ability of national authorities to dismantle organised criminal networks operating across borders.