A Nigerian man, identified as Ikechukwu N., has been arrested in Argentina for allegedly masterminding a series of online romance scams that targeted thousands of victims across multiple countries.
According to a statement released by INTERPOL on Tuesday, the arrest was part of Operation Jackal, an international crackdown on West African organised crime groups engaged in cyber fraud, money laundering, and other transnational offences.
INTERPOL announced via its official X account that Ikechukwu’s arrest was historic — marking Argentina’s first-ever capture of a fugitive under a Red Notice who was also listed in the organisation’s Silver Notice database. The Silver Notice system, a new initiative, focuses on tracing and recovering assets linked to criminal enterprises worldwide.
“Argentine authorities have captured Nigerian national Ikechukwu N., marking the country’s first arrest of a #RedNotice fugitive who was also the subject of an INTERPOL Silver Notice. The suspect is accused of orchestrating multiple romance scams involving thousands of women, and leading an international cybercrime network,” the statement read.
INTERPOL noted that the operation was a joint effort involving the Argentine Federal Police, Airport Security Police, the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC), the Federal Intelligence Secretariat (FIS), and INTERPOL Brazil.
