An eight-month international operation targeting West African organised crime networks has resulted in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects, INTERPOL said.
Operation Jackal IV, conducted between November 2025 and June 2026, brought together law-enforcement agencies from 23 countries across six continents. The operation focused on disrupting money laundering, identifying high-value targets, tracing illicit assets and supporting arrests and prosecutions.
INTERPOL said West African criminal networks, including groups such as Black Axe, are involved in a significant share of cyber-enabled financial crime worldwide. Their activities include romance scams, cryptocurrency and investment fraud, business email compromise and other serious offences. South Africa recorded the largest number of arrests, with 39 people detained after authorities raided seven locations in Johannesburg linked to romance and investment scams targeting retirees in English-speaking countries. Investigators seized $2.67 million and blocked 257 bank accounts.
In Romania, authorities dismantled a criminal group that operated an investment scam through a call centre, allegedly promising victims high returns from stocks and cryptocurrencies. Investigators estimate that approximately €143 million was stolen and laundered globally. Eleven people were arrested, while cash, cryptocurrency, property and luxury watches were seized. In Argentina, authorities identified 196 people allegedly linked to a Crime-as-a-Service network that provided website domains and money-laundering services to West African criminal groups. Seventeen arrests followed. The operation also highlighted emerging threats, including the use of sextortion against minors and the growing outsourcing of criminal services through dark-web providers. INTERPOL said the results demonstrate the importance of tracing illicit financial flows across borders to disrupt organised crime networks.