INTERPOL has concluded an eight-month global crackdown targeting Black Axe and other organised crime networks linked to cyber-enabled financial fraud, resulting in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects across 22 countries.
Operation Jackal IV, which ran from November 2025 to June 2026, involved law enforcement agencies across six continents and focused on disrupting the financial networks that enable organised crime to operate across borders.
Rather than focusing solely on arrests, INTERPOL said the operation was designed to “follow the money” by tracing illicit financial flows, disrupting money-laundering networks, seizing criminal assets and identifying high-value targets financing cyber fraud.
Tomonobu Kaya, Director of the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, said targeting illicit financial flows was critical to weakening organised crime 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,” he said.
INTERPOL identified Black Axe and similar West African organised crime networks as a major focus of the operation, linking them to cyber-enabled financial fraud and other serious crimes across Africa, Europe and Asia.
The agency said the networks are involved in crimes including romance scams, cryptocurrency and investment fraud, Business Email Compromise (BEC) and other forms of organised and violent crime.
According to INTERPOL, the syndicates operate across borders and use mule accounts, shell companies and cryptocurrency wallets to launder illicit funds before transferring the money out of victim countries.
Operation Jackal IV combined intelligence sharing, financial analysis and coordinated cross-border law enforcement action. INTERPOL also provided specialised training to help participating countries trace, freeze and recover criminal assets more effectively.
While 58 suspects were arrested, 263 others were identified in connection with the criminal networks. INTERPOL said several cases remain under investigation because of the complexity of tracing international money trails.
The operation highlights the growing international focus on organised cybercrime and its financial infrastructure, with authorities increasingly targeting the money and assets that sustain criminal networks.
INTERPOL said investigations are continuing, with further arrests and asset seizures expected as law enforcement agencies follow up on intelligence gathered during Operation Jackal IV.
