Europol announced on Friday that 34 individuals have been sacked in Spain for their suspected involvement with Black Axe, a transnational criminal organization. The operation, coordinated by the Spanish National Police in partnership with the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office and Europol, resulted in 28 individuals being sacked in Seville, three in Madrid, two in Málaga, and one in Barcelona. Authorities also froze €119,352 in bank accounts and seized €66,403 in cash during house searches, underscoring the financial scale of the network’s activities.
Black Axe, a hierarchical criminal syndicate that originated in Nigeria in 1977, has spread to multiple countries with an estimated 30,000 registered members, supported by additional affiliates including money mules and facilitators. Europol described the network as a violent, mafia-style organization involved in cyber-enabled fraud, drug trafficking, human trafficking, prostitution, kidnapping, armed robbery, and fraudulent spiritual practices. Financially, the group is believed to be responsible for fraud exceeding €5.93 million, highlighting the sophisticated and wide-reaching nature of its operations.
The syndicate’s cybercrime activities include business email compromise schemes, romance and inheritance scams, credit card fraud, tax fraud, advance payment fraud, and money laundering. In previous enforcement efforts, INTERPOL noted the network’s capacity to defraud victims of millions of dollars. A report in late 2022 highlighted arrests of 75 individuals as part of Operation Jackal, targeting Black Axe affiliates and uncovering extensive networks facilitating global financial fraud. In July 2024, further operations led to the seizure of over $5 million in assets, cryptocurrencies, and luxury items, along with more than 400 sacked suspects and thousands of identified potential members.
Authorities emphasize that Black Axe is one of the most prominent West African transnational organized crime syndicates, operating not only within Africa but globally. Europol’s latest action reinforces international collaboration in addressing the syndicate’s cyber-enabled and physical crimes, targeting both financial and human exploitation networks. The scale and sophistication of the network, coupled with its use of violent tactics, highlight the continuing challenge law enforcement faces in curbing transnational organized crime while disrupting the syndicate’s digital and physical operations.
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