Ten suspected members of the Nigeria-linked Black Axe organized crime group have been arrested in Switzerland, Europol said on April 28.
This is the second time this year the network, which allegedly specializes in romance fraud and cyberscams, has been targeted by law enforcement in Europe.
Europol—the European Union’s law enforcement agency—said in a statement that Black Axe is linked to the Neo-Black Movement of Africa (NBM). NBM describes itself as a pan-African movement that emerged from a Nigerian university in 1977 and aims to promote and advance “African culture and arts globally.”
The Epoch Times reached out to NBM for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
In a statement, Europol said that several houses in different parts of Switzerland were searched and 10 people were arrested, including “the Black Axe ’regional head' for the southern European region.”
‘Highly Structured, Hierarchical Group’
“[Black Axe] is a highly structured, hierarchical group with a global presence,” Europol said. “It divides its territory into approximately 60 zones in Nigeria and 35 abroad, with about 200 members per zone.”
Europol said Black Axe has about 30,000 registered members and “countless affiliated individuals” who were used as money mules or to facilitate the group’s activities.
“The group enforces strict codes of conduct, violent and ritualistic initiations, and spiritual practices,” the agency said.
Europol estimates that the group generates billions of euros per year in income through cybercrime, prostitution, kidnapping, armed robbery, and “fraudulent spiritual practices.”
‘Romance Scams’ in the United States
In 2023, a senior Black Axe operative, Akohomen Ighedoise, was sentenced in Tampa, Florida, to 17 years and six months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.In a statement published at the time, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said, “Many of the victims were widowed, single, or divorced elderly women who developed relationships with fake suitors on dating websites as part of so-called ‘romance scams.’”
“The women were then convinced to wire money, which often consisted of their entire retirement savings and cash taken out from home equity to bank accounts in the United States as part of a supposed investment opportunity,” the Department of Justice said at the time.
Ighedoise, who was based in Ontario, Canada, was ordered to pay $4.4 million in restitution to the victims of his scams.
In a 2024 article for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Matthew La Lime, a research associate, said, “Exploiting vulnerable members of the Nigerian diaspora is a key part of Black Axe’s operations.”
He said members of the group “routinely coerce or convince Nigerian migrants to take part in their money laundering activities.”
