LOS ANGELES, CA – Three indictments charging 37 individuals reportedly linked to Indian transnational organized crime groups were unsealed by federal authorities earlier in July, highlighting efforts tied to a years-long investigation involving drug smuggling, targeted assassinations, and racketeering.
Law enforcement agencies in the U.S., Canada, and Europe were responsible for the multicount indictments linked to what officials have dubbed as “Operation Hard Ball,” where authorities claim 24 suspects have already been taken into custody following the execution of 50 search warrants across the globe.
Reportedly 15 of the suspects arrested were apprehended in the U.S. and were in the country illegally, according to authorities, who were allegedly among those who played a role in exploits ranging from targeted killings to drug smuggling to fuel these gangs’ illicit activities. One of the alleged assassinations linked to the Indian groups was the June 2023 fatal shooting of a political and religious Sikh leader in Canada named Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Authorities allege Lawrence Bishnoi, the leader of an Indian organized crime outfit who was imprisoned at the time of Nijjar’s murder, had ordered the hit with the assistance of a man named Satinderjeet Singh, doing so with smuggled communication devices inside the facility he was being held at the time.
Another individual named in the indictments is Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who is also currently imprisoned, and reportedly leads a 1,000-member transnational crime ring which specializes in everything from weapons trafficking, extortion schemes, and murder-for-hire. Bhagwanpuria’s gang allegedly colluded with corrupt law enforcement officers in India to extort rivals in the United States, leading to an indictment against Indian police chief Gunder Preet Singh for allegedly trying to extort a Los Angeles family under threats of fabricating criminal charges against their remaining family in India.
Vancouver-based Ravinder Singh Dhanda, who went by the alias “John Wick”, stands accused of brokering international drug smuggling efforts throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Law enforcement seizures of said smuggling efforts have reportedly netted over 1,000 kilograms of narcotics, including methamphetamine and cocaine, alongside dozens of illegal firearms and $40,000 in cash.
Of the 37 individuals charged across the three indictments, 24 were taken into custody via operations across the U.S., Canada and Europe, while 7 of the individuals were already in custody. Eleven of said defendants were reportedly apprehended across California, according to authorities. One of the alleged leaders of the gangs outlined in the indictments, Gurlal Singh, was apprehended in Stockton, California.
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