Six Nigerian nationals, implicated in an organized criminal syndicate alleged to have defrauded American women of upwards of $6 million via online romance scams, are to be extradited to the United States on Friday, according to South African police.

The men, apprehended in the South African city of Cape Town in 2021, are slated to be remanded into the custody of FBI officials on Friday and conveyed to the United States, where they will answer to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

They stand accused of affiliation with a criminal syndicate known as the Black Axe, which Interpol characterizes as constituting part of those criminal groups responsible for a substantial proportion of the world's cyber-enabled financial fraud, effectuated principally through romance scams, cryptocurrency and investment scams.

According to South African police, the men are alleged to have preyed upon upwards of 100 women across the United States, defrauding them of in excess of $6 million by means of online romance or love scams.

Among those purportedly victimised were pensioners and entrepreneurs who had ostensibly been singled out by dint of sophisticated online relationships.

"Through the coordination of Interpol South Africa, the six will today be transported from a correctional facility in Cape Town to Cape Town International Airport, where they will be handed over to officials from the FBI and the United States Secret Service, who arrived in South Africa this morning," said police spokesperson Katlego Mogale.

A recent Interpol operation directed at West African organized crime syndicates culminated in the apprehension of 58 individuals and the identification of 263 suspects affiliated with an array of criminal networks implicated in analogous offences, the multinational policing body disclosed last month.

The operation was devised with the objectives of disrupting money laundering, identifying high-value targets, seizing assets, and facilitating arrests and prosecution.

In South Africa, authorities conducted raids across seven locations in Johannesburg tied to a syndicate that perpetrated romance and investment frauds targeting retirees in English-speaking countries.

In the course of that South African operation, law enforcement authorities apprehended 39 individuals, confiscated $2.67 million, and froze in excess of 250 bank accounts, Interpol reported.