On April 28, 2026, a major international law enforcement operation supported by Europol resulted in the arrest of 10 suspected members of the notorious Black Axe criminal organization in Switzerland.
The operation, which involved coordinated house searches across six Swiss cantons including Zurich, targeted the leadership of the Nigerian-linked network.
According to Europol, as a result of the investigation led by the Public Prosecutor’s Office II of the Canton of Zurich (Staatsanwaltschaft II Zürich) together with the Zurich Cantonal Police (Kantonspolizei Zürich) and the Zurich City Police (Stadtpolizei Zürich), the suspects are accused of numerous crimes.
This includes romance scams and other cyber fraud offences causing millions of Swiss francs in damages, as well as money laundering. Zurich Cantonal and City Police, with the support of police forces from other cantons, searched various residential and storage facilities in the Canton of Zurich and five other cantons today. During this action day, 10 persons were arrested, most of whom are of Nigerian origin.
Black Axe, formally linked to the Neo-Black Movement of Africa, is a highly structured, hierarchical group with a global presence. It divides its territory into approximately 60 zones in Nigeria and 35 abroad, with about 200 members per zone. In total, the organisation has roughly 30 000 registered members, and countless affiliated individuals such as money mules and facilitators.
The group enforces strict codes of conduct, violent and ritualistic initiations, and spiritual practices. The criminal network is known for its involvement in a wide range of criminal activities, including cyber-enabled fraud, drug trafficking, human trafficking and prostitution, kidnapping, armed robbery and fraudulent spiritual practices. The group’s annual criminal proceeds are estimated to be in the billions of euros, generated through many small-scale operations that collectively have a significant impact.
The investigations by the Zurich law enforcement authorities were conducted with the support of Europol and within the framework of cross-border cooperation. This collaboration has already led to the arrest of numerous members of the Nigerian criminal network in several European countries, such as this recent operation in Spain. This operation was supported by Europol through a range of services, including information analysis, as well as a data sprint held in Madrid. Europol has been instrumental in mapping the group’s structure across countries, centralising information, sharing relevant intelligence packages, and supporting coordinated national investigations. This strategy aims to disrupt the group’s operations and seize assets, addressing the challenges posed by the group’s dispersed small cases, cross-border activity, and the blurring of crimes into ‘ordinary’ local offences.
This operation was supported by the @ON Network funded by the EU (Project ISF4@ON) led by the Italian Antimafia Investigation Directorate (DIA).
Participating countries:
- Germany: Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (Bayerisches Landeskriminalamt)
- Switzerland: Zurich Cantonal Police (Kantonspolizei Zürich); Zurich City Police (Stadtpolizei Zürich), Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office II (Staatsanwaltschaft II Zürich)
