No fewer than six Nigerian citizens accused of defrauding more than 100 American women of over $6 million in internet – enabled romance scams are set to be extradited from South Africa to the United States on Friday, South African police said.
The suspects, arrested in Cape Town in 2021, will be handed over to officials from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and transported to the United States to face charges of wire fraud and money laundering.
South African authorities allege that the men were members of Black Axe, a Nigerian-linked organised criminal network that has been associated with cyber-enabled financial fraud, including romance, cryptocurrency and investment scams.
According to police, the suspects allegedly targeted more than 100 women in the U.S., including pensioners and businesspeople, using sophisticated online relationships to gain their trust before defrauding them.
“Through the coordination of Interpol South Africa, the six will today be transported from a correctional facility in Cape Town to Cape Town International Airport, where they will be handed over to officials from the FBI and the United States Secret Service, who arrived in South Africa this morning,” police spokesperson Katlego Mogale said.
Interpol has described Black Axe as part of a network of criminal groups responsible for a significant share of cyber-enabled financial fraud worldwide.
The extradition comes amid a wider international crackdown on organised crime in West Africa. Interpol said a recent operation targeting West African criminal networks resulted in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects linked to various crimes, including online financial fraud.
