The Gardai, the national police and security service of Ireland, have arrested nine members of a criminal syndicate specialized in cryptocurrency fraud in the country.

According to the Irish Times, the security agency seized a cryptocurrency worth €1.1 million during the arrest. The seized sum is the most significant cryptocurrency amount ever recovered from a criminal organization in the country.

Though led by an Irish man, the gang is said to be closely linked to the Black Axe, a global confraternity that originated in Nigeria.

Apart from the seized sum, €30,000 linked to accounts belonging to gang members was frozen, and two vehicles were impounded. The ownership and purchase of a property in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is still being investigated.

The group, which operates from Waterford, a city in southeast Ireland, uses bogus text messages when reaching out to its victims.

“The investigation is also conducting inquiries into persons of varying nationalities, multilinguistic, fluent in several languages to deceive their victims nationally and internationally,” the Garda said on November 21.

In October, the Black Axe was described as the group that runs the most significant criminal operation in the world.