Six Nigerian nationals were handed over to FBI and US Secret Service officials at Cape Town International Airport on Thursday afternoon, 11 September 2026, and extradited to the United States to stand trial for wire fraud and money laundering.
Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale confirmed the extradition, saying the suspects are linked to a multi-million-rand romance scam operation that targeted more than 100 women in America.
Six Nigerian nationals are going to be extradited to the United States this afternoon following a rather lengthy investigation that began in 2021 here in Cape Town. At the time they were eight of them — one was granted a bail of R210 000 and the other one was subsequently extradited back to the United States. They will all be standing trial for wire fraud as well as money laundering.
The suspects had been held in a Cape Town correctional facility and were medically cleared at the airport before being placed on a charter flight, according to SABC News journalists who were at the scene.
Cape Flats News has not independently confirmed the identities of the six men, and the US Department of Justice has not yet issued a statement.
Colonel Mogale said the alleged fraud, carried out via sophisticated online relationships, spanned years and drew in pensioners and business owners as victims.
These suspects have been in our country, they will be charged in America, and they will stand trial in America. That’s sending a message out there that, collaboration in all our law enforcement agencies, both in South Africa and outside does truly work.
The Hawks, the FBI, and the US Secret Service worked together after the initial arrests of eight suspects in Cape Town in 2021.
One of those original eight was extradited to the US in 2024, and another was released on bail in South Africa, Mogale said.
The six men flown out on Thursday are allegedly tied to the Black Axe organised crime network, a group that has been the target of multiple Interpol and FBI operations since 2019, the BBC reported.
In 2021, a BBC Eye investigation described Black Axe as one of the most far-reaching and dangerous organised crime groups in the world, linked to internet fraud, human trafficking, and murder.
An Interpol operation codenamed “Jackal” between November 2025 and June 2026 saw law enforcement raid seven sites across South Africa linked to Black Axe, arresting 39 people and blocking more than 250 bank accounts.
The romance scams defrauded victims of over R100 million, according to figures released by the Hawks and first reported by News24.
What remains unknown are the names, ages, and exact charges the six men will face in the US.
Cape Flats News will check with the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Texas — where similar Black Axe cases have been prosecuted — on Monday, 14 September, for updated charging documents.