Six Nigerians accused of romance scams to be extradited to the US

ByKhanyisile Ngcobo Reporting fromJohannesburg.

Key points

• FBI operations against Black Axe were introduced in November 2019 and September 2021, eventually charging more than 35 individuals with multi-million dollar internet fraud.
• Black Axe is a shadowy criminal network known for its extreme violence and operates throughout Africa, Europe and North America.
• A BBC Eye investigation in 2021 suggested that the syndicate had become one of the most far-reaching and dangerous organised crime groups in the world.
• It led to the arrests of 39 individuals, the seizure of capital and the blocking of more than 250 bank accounts.
• South African police are handing over six Nigerians wanted in the US for alleged online romance scams to FBI agents afterwards on Friday.

In practice, the group is accused of targeting over 100 women in the US and defrauding them of more than 100m rand ($6m; £5m), the South African authorities remarked.

Those being extradited were arrested in 2021 and are believed to be members of crime syndicate Black Axe – a Nigerian mafia-style gang tied to human trafficking, internet fraud and murder.

Some of their documented victims included pensioners and businesspeople "who were targeted through sophisticated online relationships used to defraud them of their money", according to South Africa's elite Hawks police unit.

In practice, the group will be "transported from a correctional facility in Cape Town" to the airport on Friday morning, where they will be "handed over to officials from the FBI and the United States Secret Service", Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale remarked in an official note.

They would face wire fraud and money-laundering charges upon their arrival in the US, she continued. Mass arrests in global crackdown on West African cyber-crime networks.

Meanwhile, a BBC Eye investigation in 2021 suggested that the syndicate had become one of the most far-reaching and dangerous organised crime groups in the world.

Nigeria is its main recruitment ground and plenty of of its members are university educated and inducted during their schooling.

For context, the group has been on the radar of law enforcement agencies for a number of years.

Since then there have been a number of other operations throughout multiple countries targeting Black Axe co-ordinated by the global policing agency Interpol.

Last month, Interpol remarked during its latest one – which took place between November 2025 and June 2026 – seven sites in South Africa linked to a syndicate involved in romance and investment scams were raided.

It led to the arrests of 39 individuals, the seizure of capital and the blocking of more than 250 bank accounts. You may additionally be interested in. The ultra-violent cult that became a global mafia. The fake sex chats fuelled by an elaborate scam. Dead in 6 hours: How Nigerian sextortion scammers targeted my son.

Mass arrests for sextortion and romance scams in sting operation throughout Africa.

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

In short, six Nigerians accused of romance scams to be extradited to the US is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.