Six Nigerian nationals linked to an organized criminal network that allegedly swindled American women out of more than $6 million through online romance scams were extradited to the United States on Friday.
South African police confirmed the extradition earlier on Friday, and local news reported that the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks, facilitated the handover to FBI and Secret Service officials at Cape Town International Airport, in cooperation with Interpol South Africa.
The men were arrested in Cape Town in 2021 and face wire fraud and money laundering charges. They are accused of belonging to the Black Axe, a criminal group described by Interpol as responsible for a significant share of the world’s cyber‑enabled financial fraud, typically through romance, cryptocurrency and investment scams.
According to South African police, the men targeted more than 100 women in the United States, defrauding them of more than $6 million through sophisticated online relationships with pensioners and businesspeople. Interpol’s recent operation against West African organized crime groups led to the arrest of 58 people and the identification of 263 suspects linked to similar crimes. In South Africa, authorities raided seven Johannesburg locations tied to a syndicate that ran romance and investment scams targeting retirees in English‑speaking countries, arresting 39 people, seizing $2.67 million and freezing over 250 bank accounts.
