What Interpol establishes
The country-by-country detail, as it appears in the press release: Argentina arrested 17 people and linked 196 individuals to a “crime-as-a-service” network that supplied domain names and money laundering to the West African groups. Romania made 11 arrests and seized around €330,000 in cash and crypto-assets, in an investment fraud case covering €143 million stolen and laundered worldwide. In Italy, a single account had been used to launder €845,000.
What the press adds — and where it comes from
🔍“30,000 members”: from Europol, not from Interpol
Interpol’s press release on Jackal IV gives no headcount. The estimate of 30,000 members does circulate, but it comes from Europol, in connection with a separate operation carried out in Spain in January 2026. Two authorities, two operations, two dates — merged into a single sentence in several write-ups.
❓“€4.3 billion a year”: we could not find the source
This is the most widely repeated figure, and it is the one we could not tie back to any document. Europol refers to revenues “on the order of a billion euros” without naming an amount; other publications speak of “more than $5 billion”. The figure of €4.3 billion, decimal place and all, appears in no public source we were able to open. So we do not repeat it.
⚖️The comparison with Jackal III is accurate, but incomplete
It is true that the previous operation delivered more: around 300 arrests in 2024, across 21 countries. What the comparison leaves out is duration — Jackal III ran from 10 April to 3 July 2024, three months, against eight for Jackal IV. It had also identified more than 400 further suspects and blocked more than 720 accounts. Interpol, for its part, does not compare the two operations.
Timeline
What this changes for you
These groups are not running some exotic fraud: they operate precisely the scenarios this site documents — the romance scam, the fake investment offer, and business email compromise, where the fraudster poses as an executive or a supplier to divert a transfer.
The useful point is not the number of arrests. It is that the fraud aimed at you is often industrial and organised rather than opportunistic — and that it leans on services bought from others, like that Argentine network selling domain names and laundering to 196 identified customers. The practical consequence stays the same: the quality of a contact proves nothing.
Frequently asked questions
How many arrests did Operation Jackal IV produce?
58 arrests and 263 suspects identified, across 22 countries on six continents, between November 2025 and June 2026.
Does Black Axe really have 30,000 members and €4.3 billion in revenue?
Interpol’s press release gives neither a headcount nor a revenue figure. The 30,000 members come from Europol, on a separate operation in January 2026. The amount of €4.3 billion is carried by no public source we have been able to find.
Did Jackal IV do worse than the previous operation?
On the raw number of arrests, yes. But Jackal III ran for three months and Jackal IV for eight: the two do not compare directly, and Interpol does not compare them.
Going further
Egidio — The Threat Laboratory, “Operation Jackal IV: 58 arrests, and the figure nobody sources”, egidio.app/en/laboratoire/operation-jackal-iv-black-axe/. Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Free to reuse, including commercially, with attribution. Reuse terms.