THE Policia Nacional have arrested 34 people in a nationwide operation against an international crime ring known as Black Axe.
The detentions- carried out in association with Europol- focused on accusations of fraud, money laundering and document forgery.
Black Axe originated in Nigeria as a student confraternity in the late 1970s.
The group enforces strict codes of conduct, violent and ritualistic initiations, and spiritual practices.
It has evolved into a structured, violent criminal organisation dealing mainly in cyber-enabled financial crime.
The bulk of the arrests were carried out in the Sevilla area(28) with the rest in Madrid, Malaga, and Barcelona.
The ring-leaders have been jailed after their initial court appearances.
Europol said the operation was coordinated with authorities in Germany as part of a wider investigation.
The organised crime network allegedly recruited money mules in impoverished areas of Spain with high unemployment rates.
“Most of these vulnerable individuals are Spanish nationals and are exploited to facilitate the network’s criminal activities,” Europol said in a statement.
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.
Investigators estimate that the network had defrauded its victims of more than €5.9 million.
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