In a significant international law enforcement operation, Spanish authorities in collaboration with Europol and German police have dismantled a key cell of the notorious 'Black Axe' criminal organisation. The crackdown led to the arrest of 34 suspects across several Spanish cities, with ten of those detained being Nigerian nationals.
Major Cross-Border Operation Nets Key Figures
The coordinated action, which took place with support from the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office in Germany, was announced by Europol on Friday, January 9, 2026. The operation specifically targeted the core leadership of the network's activities in Spain. The vast majority of arrests, 28 out of 34, were executed in the city of Seville. Additional suspects were apprehended in Madrid (3), Malaga (2), and Barcelona (1).
Europol's statement highlighted that Black Axe is a highly structured and hierarchical group with origins in Nigeria but now commands a global presence. The ten Nigerian nationals arrested are believed to form the central command of the network's Spanish operations. The group is implicated in a devastating array of crimes including large-scale cyber-enabled fraud, drug and human trafficking, prostitution, kidnapping, and even fraudulent spiritual practices.
Billions in Proceeds and Millions in Damages
The financial scale of the network's operations is staggering. Europol estimates that the group's annual criminal proceeds reach into the billions of euros, accumulated through countless small-scale frauds that together inflict massive damage. In this specific case, investigators have linked the network to fraud causing losses exceeding 5.93 million euros.
During raids associated with the arrests, law enforcement secured significant assets. Authorities froze 119,352 euros located in various bank accounts and seized an additional 66,403 euros in physical cash from searched properties.
Exploiting the Vulnerable and International Collaboration
The criminal network's modus operandi involved recruiting money mules from areas in Spain suffering from high unemployment and poverty. Most of these exploited individuals are Spanish nationals, used to launder the illicit gains and facilitate other crimes.
The success of the operation is attributed to intense cross-border cooperation. German investigators provided crucial analytical support, shared intelligence, and even deployed two officers on the ground in Spain for the action day. Europol played a central role by mapping the group's international structure, centralising information, and coordinating the simultaneous national investigations.
This strategy is vital to combatting groups like Black Axe, whose activities are dispersed across borders and often blend into local crime, making them harder to track. The group, formally linked to the Neo-Black Movement of Africa, is reported to have roughly 30,000 registered members worldwide, organized into zones, with countless more affiliates like money mules. It enforces strict, often violent, codes of conduct and ritualistic initiations.
