Interpol has identified 263 suspects and secured 58 arrests in an eight-month operation targeting West African organized crime groups involved in cyber-enabled financial fraud and other crimes.
Operation Jackal IV ran from November 2025 to June 2026 across 22 countries on six continents. On August 25 Interpol said the operation aimed to disrupt money laundering, identify high-value targets, seize assets and support arrests and prosecutions.
The operation builds on Operation Jackal III, which led to 300 arrests in 2024, as well as subsequent Interpol-led operations targeting African cybercrime.
Financial Fraud Networks Targeted Across Continents
In South Africa, police raided seven locations linked to a syndicate running romance and investment scams against retirees in English-speaking countries. Authorities arrested 39 people, blocked 257 bank accounts and seized $2.67m.
Romanian authorities dismantled a group operating an investment scam through a call center that promoted supposed high returns from stocks and cryptocurrencies.
Interpol said the network was responsible for an estimated €143m in stolen and laundered funds. Police arrested 11 people and seized about €330,000 ($385,000) in cash and cryptocurrency, six properties and luxury watches.
The operation also identified a 196-person Crime-as-a-Service (CaaS) network in Argentina that allegedly supplied website domains and money laundering support to West African organized crime groups. Police arrested 17 people.
Interpol’s country-level arrest figures total more than the 58 arrests it reported for the operation overall.
Tomonobu Kaya, director of the Interpol Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, said the operation worked by “following illicit financial flows across borders” to target what he called the lifeblood of organized crime.
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Beyond financial fraud, investigators identified an increase in sextortion targeting minors, including victims as young as 14. Interpol said some of the criminal networks also obtained CaaS capabilities from external providers to outsource activities including money laundering.
