World police in technological arms race with Nigerian mafia

Police forces around the world have joined forces in a series of covert operations targeting one of West Africa’s most feared criminal networks: Black Axe.

During Operation Jackal III, officers in bulletproof vests carried out raids in 21 countries between April and July 2024.

The mission, coordinated by the international police agency Interpol, led to the arrest of 300 people associated with Black Axe and other affiliated groups.

Interpol called the operation a “major blow” to the Nigerian criminal network, but warned that its international reach and technological sophistication mean it remains a global threat.

In one notorious example, Canadian authorities said in 2017 they had dismantled a money laundering operation linked to Black Axe worth more than $5bn (£3.8bn).

“They are very organised and very structured,” Tomonobu Kaya, a senior official at Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, told the BBC.

According to a 2022 Interpol report, “Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of cyber-based financial fraud worldwide, as well as many other serious crimes.”

According to Mr Kaya, innovations in money transfer software and cryptocurrencies are playing into the hands of the group, which is known for online scams involving millions of dollars.

“These criminal syndicates are early adopters of new technologies… Many fintech developments make it very easy to move illicit money around the world,” he said.

Operation Jackal III lasted for years and resulted in the seizure of $3 million in illegal assets and the freezing of more than 700 bank accounts.

Many Black Axe members are college educated and are recruited during their training.

The organization is a secret criminal network that operates around the world in human trafficking, prostitution and murder.

Cybercrime, targeting individuals and businesses, is the organization’s largest source of revenue.

Since 2022, there have been several so-called ‘Jackal’ police operations.

Dozens of members of Black Axe and other gangs have been arrested and their electronic devices seized in these transnational raids. This work has enabled Interpol to create a vast intelligence database, which is now shared with agents in all 196 member states.

“We need to have data and pool our findings from these countries to get a picture of how they operate,” Kaya said.

Despite the many international arrests, some experts believe that not enough is being done to tackle the root cause of these criminal gangs in West Africa.

“The emphasis should really be on prevention and not on outright operations against these criminal groups,” said Dr Oluwole Ojewale, West Africa regional coordinator at the Institute for Security Studies.

Nigeria, which has seen widespread anti-corruption protests in recent weeks, is one of Africa’s largest economies but has a staggering 87 million people living below the poverty line, according to the World Bank. It is also a major recruitment hub for Black Axe.

Interpol said it was conducting training exercises with key Nigerian stakeholders and police officials. But corruption and allegations of collusion between Black Axe and local authorities remain major obstacles.

“It is the politicians who are actually arming these boys,” Dr. Ojewale said. “The general failure of governance in the country has put pressure on people to be initiated (into Black Axe).”

Despite their current global reach, Interpol’s Jackal operations originated in Ireland.

Following a series of police operations by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) in 2020, a handful of Black Axe members were arrested, paving the way for the exposure of a much larger network.

“They were very stealthy and very discreet,” said Michael Cryan, a GNECB detective who led the operation.

“The amount of money laundered through Ireland was astronomical,” he added.

Police subsequently identified 1,000 people with links to Black Axe in Ireland and made hundreds of arrests for fraud and cybercrime.

“Bank robberies are now carried out using laptops, which are much more sophisticated,” said Det Supt Cryan.

He estimates that €200 million ($220 million; £170 million) has been stolen online in Ireland in the past five years. And that’s just the 20% of cybercrime that is believed to be reported.

“This is not a typical or everyday crime… People who make decisions need to know how serious this is,” he said.

Irish police operations in November 2023 revealed that cryptocurrencies, which can be quickly sent between digital wallets around the world, are becoming an integral part of Black Axe’s money laundering operations.

In one operation, more than €1 million worth of cryptocurrencies were seized.

Interpol has deployed its own new technology to tackle these innovations, launching the Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) system.

The mechanism, which allows member state authorities to freeze bank accounts around the world with unprecedented speed, was used last month to stop a $40 million fraud case targeting a Singapore company.

According to Interpol’s Mr Kaya, this kind of technology would make it harder for criminals to move money across borders with impunity.

Intelligence gathering and sharing on Black Axe and other West African syndicates is currently underway by police around the world.

“If we can collect this data, we can take action,” he said.