{"id":4504,"date":"2024-07-17T13:22:14","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T18:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/cybersecurity-operations\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation"},"modified":"2024-07-17T13:22:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T18:22:14","slug":"west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2024\/07\/17\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"West African Crime Syndicate Taken Down by Interpol Operation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt6d90778a997de1cd\/blt937a7fb50a07c87e\/664e397850435d2fbf1ced63\/INTERPOL%281800%29_Olena_Bartienieva_ALAMY.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Operation Jackal III, a global law enforcement campaign targeting crime groups in West Africa, has led to hundreds of arrests and the seizure of assets amounting to as much as $3 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">The operation ran from April 10 to July 3 in five continents and 21 countries, focusing on online financial fraud and the West African syndicates running it. Through the operation, law enforcement was able to make roughly 300 arrests and identify 400 additional suspects, as well as block access to more than 700 bank accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">&#8220;By identifying suspects, recovering illicit funds and putting some of West Africa&#8217;s most dangerous organized crime leaders behind bars, we are able to weaken their influence and reduce their capacity to harm communities around the world,&#8221; said Isaac Oginni, director of Interpol&#8217;s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC), <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.interpol.int\/en\/News-and-Events\/News\/2024\/INTERPOL-operation-strikes-major-blow-against-West-African-financial-crime\" rel=\"noopener\">in a statement<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">One of the groups targeted was Black Axe, which is among the most prominent West African organized crime syndicates. The group operates in cyberfraud, human trafficking, drug smuggling, and violent crimes, not just in Africa but around the world.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Suspects of the group are citizens from Colombia, Nigeria, and Venezuela. There were also members from Argentina, where, after a five-year investigation, police seized $1.2 million and arrested 72 suspects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">This is not the first time Interpol has moved on these groups. In 2023, <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/cyber-risk\/interpol-shuts-down-african-cybercrime-group-seizes-$2-million\" rel=\"noopener\">Operation Jackal targeted the same West African syndicates<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">, arresting 103 individuals and seizing more than $2.2 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/cybersecurity-operations\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Operation Jackal III, a global law enforcement campaign targeting crime<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[809],"class_list":["post-4504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dark-reading"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?fit=1800%2C1013&ssl=1",1800,1013,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1",640,360,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1",640,360,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?fit=1536%2C864&ssl=1",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?fit=1800%2C1013&ssl=1",1800,1013,true],"chromenews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=1",1024,576,true],"chromenews-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?resize=825%2C575&ssl=1",825,575,true],"chromenews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?resize=590%2C410&ssl=1",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Dark Reading","author_link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/author\/darkreading\/"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/category\/uncategorized\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Uncategorized<\/a>","tag_info":"Uncategorized","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/west-african-crime-syndicate-taken-down-by-interpol-operation.jpg?fit=1800%2C1013&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}