In a nationwide search operation with a focus on Bavaria, the police arrested eleven men on Tuesday who are members of the “Black Ax Confraternity”. According to the investigative authorities, this “brotherhood” is a criminal organization with roots in Nigeria. Internet crime is said to be their main business in Germany – especially so-called love or romance scamming.
During the operation, which began at 6 a.m. and involved around 350 emergency services, two men were arrested in Munich and one each in Rosenheim, Fürstenfeldbruck, Augsburg, Landsberg am Lech and Miesbach. Outside Bavaria, there were arrests in Filderstadt and Tübingen (Baden-Württemberg), in the Hochtaunuskreis (Hesse) and in Hamburg. The men are between 29 and 53 years old and are all Nigerian citizens. The public prosecutor’s office and the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) announced this at a press conference on Wednesday.
The “Black Ax Confraternity” is said to have 30,000 members worldwide; in Germany the number is estimated at several hundred. The organization is structured strictly hierarchically; at all levels there is, among other things, a “Head”, so to speak the highest boss, a “Chief Priest”, a kind of master of ceremonies, and a “Butcher” who oversees discipline and his badge of honor Whip, not just for decorative reasons.
In Germany, after the investigation, “Black Ax” is mainly dedicated to internet crime and, above all, to so-called love scamming: On dating platforms, suitable people are led to believe that they have a love relationship, but this is never carried out in real life. Instead, the alleged lover constantly finds himself in situations where he urgently and immediately needs money.
The victims often transfer thousands of euros, which are immediately distributed among various accounts to conceal the situation, laundered and finally transferred to Nigeria. The sales – and thus the damage to the victims – run into the millions. In other countries, “Black Ax” is also active in prostitution, human trafficking and drug trafficking.
The public prosecutor’s office and the State Criminal Police Office are convinced that the men arrested on Tuesday were current or former management personnel of the “Black Axe”. Once the investigation has been completed, they will be charged with, among other things, membership in a criminal organization before the State Protection Chamber of the Munich I Regional Court.