Interpol Nabs 300 in Crackdown on West African Firms from Five Continents

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Interpol on Tuesday said that in a major international crackdown on West African criminal organizations, 300 people were arrested, $3m taken and 720 accounts frozen. This was dubbed Operation Jackal III, and took place from April 10 to July 3, involving 21 countries.

The prime objective of the operation was to photograph cyberspace financial scams and apprehend the West African criminally oriented groups that perpetrated the deeds. According to Oginni Issac of Interpol’s Financial Crime financial crimes originating from West Africa are on the rise and they include fraud. “These scenarios show the utmost necessity for the cooperation of global police forces to deal with these rather vast criminal structures,” This operation is a useful example of the importance to employ joint efforts with the colleagues from other countries in order to fight such big criminal networks.

Another group that was targeted included Black Axe which is a criminal organization established in the West African region, specialises in fraud, human trafficking, drug business, robberies, and other related crimes. Interpol informed that money mules are utilized by Black Axe for opening bank accounts all across the world and it is under probe in more than 40 states for money laundering related offenses currently. The arrested persons are from Argentina, Colombia, Nigeria, and Venezuela.

The crackdown on Black Axe in Argentina produced 1 million dollars worth of seizure. Three, five years authorized criminal syndicates dealt $2 million in high-quality counterfeit banknotes, arresting 72 suspects and freezing about 100 bank accounts.

The International Criminal Police Organization, better known as Interpol – which marked its centenary last year – functions as a network that assists member countries’ police departments in various ways, including collaboration and cooperation in the sharing of intelligence activities and suspects in the fields of terrorism, fiscal crime, child pornography, computer crime, as well as organized crime. New problems appear, for instance, an increasing number of cyber attacks and child sexual abuse cases, and the escalated cold relations between the organization’s member countries.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-07-17/interpol-arrests-300-people-in-a-global-crackdown-on-west-african-crime-groups-across-5-continents