South African police on Friday handed over six Nigerians wanted in the United States for alleged online romance scams to FBI agents, the country's elite Hawks police unit said. The suspects were arrested in 2021 and are believed to be members of the crime syndicate Black Axe — a Nigerian mafia-style gang tied to human trafficking, internet fraud and murder.
According to South African authorities, the group is accused of targeting over 100 women in the US and defrauding them of more than 100 million rand ($6m; £5m). Some of the reported victims included pensioners and businesspeople "who were targeted through sophisticated online relationships used to defraud them of their money," Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said in a statement.
The group will be "transported from a correctional facility in Cape Town" to the airport on Friday morning, where they will be "handed over to officials from the FBI and the United States Secret Service," Mogale added. They would face wire fraud and money-laundering charges upon their arrival in the US, she said.
Black Axe is a shadowy criminal network known for its extreme violence and operates across Africa, Europe and North America. A BBC Eye investigation in 2021 suggested that the syndicate had become one of the most far-reaching and dangerous organised crime groups in the world. Nigeria is its main recruitment ground, and many of its members are university educated and inducted during their schooling.
The group has been on the radar of law enforcement agencies for years. FBI operations against Black Axe were launched in November 2019 and September 2021, eventually charging more than 35 individuals with multi-million dollar internet fraud. Since then, several other operations across multiple countries targeting Black Axe have been coordinated by the global policing agency Interpol. Last month, Interpol said during its latest operation — which took place between November 2025 and June 2026 — seven sites in South Africa linked to a syndicate involved in romance and investment scams were raided. It led to the arrests of 39 people, the seizure of money and the blocking of more than 250 bank accounts.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk