INTERPOL’s eight-month Operation Jackal IV coordinated 22 countries to dismantle West African organized crime networks, resulting in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspected criminal associates.

Key Points

• Operation Jackal IV targeted global cyber-enabled financial fraud, including romance scams, cryptocurrency schemes, and business email compromise.
• Authorities in South Africa arrested 39 individuals and seized $2.67 million while raiding call centers targeting retirees.
• A Romanian investigation into a fraudulent investment scheme led to 11 arrests and the recovery of assets linked to $166 million in global losses.
• Investigators identified 196 individuals involved in a crime-as-a-service network that provided money laundering support and website domains to criminal groups.
• The operation spanned 22 countries across six continents, including the U.S., U.K., Nigeria, Australia, and Japan, between November 2025 and June 2026.

Why it Matters

This operation highlights the growing sophistication of transnational criminal syndicates that utilize corporate-style structures to facilitate large-scale financial fraud. By disrupting these illicit financial flows, international law enforcement agencies are increasingly targeting the infrastructure that allows organized crime to operate globally.