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South African police moved six Nigerian nationals from a Cape Town correctional facility to the international airport on Friday for handover to arriving FBI and US Secret Service agents, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation announced. Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the transfer, coordinated through Interpol South Africa, would see the men flown to the United States to face federal charges. The suspects had remained in custody since their 2021 arrests as extradition proceedings advanced through the courts.
The six men are accused of belonging to the Black Axe organised crime network and targeting more than 100 women in the United States, including pensioners and businesspeople, according to the Hawks. An Associated Press report from Johannesburg detailed how the group allegedly used sophisticated online relationships to build trust before defrauding victims of more than R100 million, equivalent to over $6 million. US authorities in Texas and New Jersey have pursued the case as part of a broader effort against transnational cyber fraud networks.
Interpol has described Black Axe as one of the criminal groups responsible for a significant share of global cyber-enabled financial crimes, including romance, cryptocurrency and investment scams, multiple outlets reported. The men were arrested in Cape Town during a major Hawks operation in 2021 that targeted the syndicate’s activities in South Africa. External reporting from India Today and Naija News noted the case forms part of intensified regional actions against Black Axe-linked fraud and cross-border money laundering.
Western Cape High Court records show the suspects appealed their extradition but saw the bid rejected in April 2026, with the court ruling that evidence pointed to a large-scale international fraud operation, TVC News reported. The decision cleared the final legal hurdle for Friday’s transfer after years of proceedings. South African officials have framed the extradition as evidence of effective collaboration with American law enforcement partners.
Romance scams linked to West African networks have drawn increasing scrutiny from US authorities, with one prominent 2022 case resulting in an 11-year prison sentence for Nigerian influencer Ramon Abbas over his role in an international fraud syndicate, according to allAfrica and Vanguard. The FBI has separately identified similar operations as high-priority targets, with one official describing the six men as high-value suspects from Nigeria in related commentary carried by BBC Pidgin. Losses from such scams have mounted into the millions across multiple jurisdictions, prompting joint task forces between American and African agencies.
The handover at Cape Town International Airport marks the culmination of a multi-year investigation that began with the 2021 arrests and involved extensive evidence sharing between the two countries. Mogale stated that the action demonstrates continued cooperation in disrupting transnational organised crime and ensuring suspects face justice in the appropriate jurisdiction. No further details on the precise flight schedule or US court appearances were released by authorities on Friday.
