Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
In a nationwide raid against an international criminal ring, Black Axe, the Policia Nacional arrested 34 individuals.
The arrests, carried out in conjunction with Europol, focused on allegations of fraud and money laundering as well as document forgery.
Black Axe began in Nigeria, as a student-confraternity during the late 1970s.
The group has strict code of conduct and practices spirituality, initiations that are violent and ritualistic, and a strict code of conduct.
It has evolved to become a well-structured, violent criminal group that deals primarily in financial crime enabled by the internet.
Sevilla, Malaga and Barcelona were the other three locations where the majority of arrests took place.
After their initial court appearances, the ring leaders were sent to prison.
Europol confirmed that the operation had been coordinated with German authorities as part of an investigation.
According to the allegations, the organised criminal network recruited money mules for areas in Spain that were impoverished and had high unemployment rates.
Europol released a statement saying that “most of these vulnerable individuals were Spanish nationals who are exploited for the criminal activities of the network.”
Black Axe is a hierarchical, highly-structured group that has a global presence. It’s formally affiliated with the Neo-Black Movement of Africa.
It has approximately 200 members per zone, divided into 60 zones within Nigeria and 35 outside the country.
There are approximately 30,000 members registered in the organization, as well as countless individuals affiliated with it, including money mules, facilitators, and others.
Investigators estimate that the network had defrauded its victims of more than €5.9 million.
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