Gardaí have found gang affiliation clothing and memorabilia as part of searches against the international Black Axe fraud and money laundering gang.
The homes of 11 senior gang members, also known as the Neo Black Movement (NBM), were raided.
The Garda has also named the gang, which originated in Africa, for the first time. It said that the group’s Irish operation has been linked to the theft and laundering of €94 million since 2020. Some 1,400 potential suspects have been identified to date, with 636 arrests. More than 300 suspects have been charged with gangland offences and money laundering.
The Irish Times has also learned gardaí seized a copy of the global gang’s constitution. Security sources in Ireland believe it is the first time the document has ever been found by a police force in a western country.
Merchandise produced to demonstrate gang affiliation – including caps, medals and even ties – were discovered in Garda raids at 11 locations across the country in a major operation on Tuesday led the Garda’s National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB).
Sources said similar memorabilia was also found in searches last year, though news of that find did not emerge publicly at the time.
Some of the items found on Tuesday, including caps and bags, had been produced specifically for the Black Axe cell here, featuring “Ireland” and also slogans such as “Ireland Zone, Stay Safe”.
Some of the caps featured the word “uhuru”, a Swahili term meaning freedom or independence. The medals and neck ties featured the Black Axe gang’s logo – a black axe being used to smash handcuffs – and the phrase “NBM of Africa”. A small number of items were produced for Black Axe members in “Ireland-UK”.
While the Black Axe gang in Ireland initially specialised in laundering large sums of money via the Irish banking system, after it was stolen abroad, its tactics have changed. It is now primarily focused on taking over the bank accounts of unsuspecting victims in Ireland, often via bogus texts purporting to come from pillar banks.
The Black Axe gang’s merchandise found on Tuesday had been awarded to gang members to signify their rank in the gang and their loyalty to it. The searches were carried out, under Operation Skein, in Sligo, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Kilkenny, Kildare, and Meath. The GNECB supported by the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau and local uniform and detective units.
“Gardaí seized a number of electronic devices of evidential value,” the Garda said in a statement, with sources adding the devices were mobile phones, laptops, USBs and other items.
“As part of Operation SKEIN, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau continues to work closely with law-enforcement partners across several jurisdictions and is supported in its efforts by Europol and Interpol,” the Garda added.
“This co-ordinated international approach reflects the scale and sophistication of the criminal network under investigation.”