INTERPOL OPERATION JACKAL IV LEADS TO 58 ARRESTS IN GLOBAL CRACKDOWN ON WEST AFRICAN ORGANIZED CRIME

LYON, France — An eight-month international law-enforcement operation targeting West African organized crime networks has resulted in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects, according to INTERPOL, across 22 countries.

Operation Jackal IV ran from November 2025 through June 2026 and focused on disrupting money laundering networks, identifying high-value targets, seizing criminal assets, and supporting arrests and prosecutions tied to cyber-enabled financial fraud and organized crime.

INTERPOL coordinated the operation across six continents and provided intelligence sharing, financial-crime analysis, operational support, and specialized training to participating countries.

The operation targeted criminal networks associated with schemes including romance fraud, cryptocurrency and investment scams, business email compromise, money laundering, and other serious criminal activity.

INTERPOL identified groups such as Black Axe among the West African organized crime networks that remain a major focus of international investigations.

In Argentina, investigators identified 196 individuals suspected of participating in a Crime-as-a-Service network that allegedly supplied website domains and money laundering support to West African organized crime groups.

Authorities arrested 17 people.

An INTERPOL Operational Support Team was deployed to Argentina to analyze seized data, identify suspects and criminal networks, and coordinate investigative leads with international partners.

The Argentina investigation also reflects a broader shift in organized cybercrime, where criminal groups can obtain infrastructure and financial services from outside providers rather than operating every component of a fraud operation themselves.

INTERPOL said some West African criminal syndicates are using external Crime-as-a-Service providers, including services obtained through the dark web, to outsource money laundering and other functions.

In South Africa, authorities raided seven locations in Johannesburg connected to a syndicate accused of operating romance and investment scams targeting retirees in English-speaking countries.

Investigators said the operation used a structured system in which members served as “conversion” or “retention” agents responsible for different stages of the fraud.

South African authorities arrested 39 individuals, seized approximately $2.67 million, and blocked 257 bank accounts connected to the investigation.

In Romania, authorities dismantled an alleged investment-fraud operation run through a call center.

Victims were offered purported high-return investments involving stocks or cryptocurrency, while investigators determined that funds were instead transferred into electronic wallets controlled by the perpetrators.

INTERPOL said the operation was linked to an estimated €143 million in stolen and laundered funds globally.

Romanian authorities arrested 11 people and seized approximately €330,000, equivalent to about $379,000, along with six properties and several luxury watches.

In Italy, investigators identified one person in connection with a pan-European money laundering network that allegedly used shell companies, remittance services, and cash withdrawals to conceal the origin of funds.

According to INTERPOL, one account connected to that activity laundered approximately €845,000, or about $736,000, through 560 transactions involving 20 different financial instruments.

Operation Jackal IV also identified an emerging threat involving sextortion targeting minors, including victims as young as 14.

INTERPOL said offenders contact minors through social media, gain their trust, pressure them into sharing explicit images or videos, and then threaten to distribute the material unless money is paid.

The tactic adds another dimension to the financial-crime operations targeted under Jackal by combining online exploitation, coercion, digital communications, and extortion.

Tomonobu Kaya, Director of the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, said investigators focused on tracing illicit financial flows across borders to disrupt the financial structures that allow organized criminal networks to continue operating.

Many investigations connected to Operation Jackal IV remain active, and INTERPOL described the announced results as preliminary.

The participating countries were 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.

Operation Jackal began as an international effort specifically targeting Black Axe and related West African organized crime organizations and has expanded into a broader campaign against the financial, technological, and operational infrastructure supporting those networks.

The latest phase demonstrates that the threat is no longer confined to individual fraud schemes. Investigators are targeting the service providers, laundering infrastructure, digital platforms, shell companies, financial accounts, and cross-border networks that allow cyber-enabled fraud operations to function at scale.

---

INTERPOL — Global Financial Fraud Assessment, May 2024. (Free Download)

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

🔥 NOW AVAILABLE! 🔥

‎👉 Eclipsera – Apple Music

---

---

---

---

---