An Interpol crackdown on West African organized crime has seen bank accounts frozen, suspects arrested, and financial investigations triggered worldwide.
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Between 15 and 29 May, Operation Jackal mobilised police forces, financial crime units and cybercrime agencies across 21 countries around the world to deliver a targeted strike against Black Axe and similar West African organized crime groups.
More than 200 bank accounts linked to the illicit proceeds of online financial crime were blocked during the operation and several kingpins arrested whose crime networks are considered a serious global security threat.
In Portugal, four investigations resulted in the accumulated seizure and recovery of almost EUR 1.4 million.
A total of 34 arrests were made during the Irish leg of Operation Jackal, 12 for investigative purposes and 22 for money laundering and gangland-style offences.
In five criminal cases involving Irish companies, EUR 225,655 was recovered through Operation Jackal beyond Irish borders.
Further arrests and prosecutions are foreseen across the world as intelligence continues to come in and investigations unfold.
Black Axe, and an increasing number of other West African organized crime syndicates, is a violent mafia-style gang renowned for cyber-enabled financial fraud, in particular business email compromise schemes, romance scams, inheritance scams, credit card fraud, tax fraud, advance payment scams and money laundering.
Sharing case studies and investigative intelligence both ahead of and during the operation, countries were able to target specific suspects and locations for raids, house searches, judicial proceedings and arrests.
The General Secretariat provided support services in the field, facilitating arrests through case coordination, crime analysis and the provision of intelligence leads.
INTERPOL officials were deployed to Cote d’Ivoire, Portugal and Spain where they supported local law enforcement with crime analysis and case coordination support.
INTERPOL also assisted local law enforcement in examining the devices seized during arrests, cross checking data against INTERPOL criminal databases and coordinating outreach with law enforcement agencies in other member countries.
Participating countries : Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States.
Operation Jackal 2022 saw EUR 1.2 million intercepted in bank accounts and 75 arrests. ■