An international law enforcement operation targeting India-based organised crime groups has resulted in 24 arrests, US officials said on Tuesday. The arrests include individuals allegedly connected to the 2023 assassination of a prominent Sikh activist in Canada.
The operation involved authorities from the United States, Canada, and Europe, who investigated criminal networks accused of involvement in racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, and drug trafficking.
Officials said dozens of individuals have been charged, including two alleged leaders who continued running their criminal organisations from prisons in India. All but 10 of those charged are currently in custody.
“Transnational criminal gangs who spread fear, drugs, and violence will face the full force of justice and the weight of the federal government,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli.
Among the charges announced on Tuesday is the alleged role in the 2023 killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent supporter of the Khalistan movement, which calls for a separate homeland for Sikhs.
US officials said Lawrence Bishnoi, 33, from Punjab, is accused of ordering the killing from an Indian prison cell. His organisation has been designated as a terrorist entity in Canada.
Authorities alleged that Bishnoi publicly portrayed himself as a religious “patriot” to attract recruits, while privately leading a criminal network involved in political assassinations, murders, shootings, extortion, kidnappings, drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other crimes across several countries.
Another accused individual is Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, 38, from Punjab, India, a jailed gangster who was once an associate of Bishnoi before becoming a rival. Officials said Bhagwanpuria created his own criminal organisation, which has expanded to more than 1,000 members across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Bhagwanpuria and 16 other defendants have been charged with operating a criminal enterprise allegedly involved in murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, kidnappings, extortion, weapons trafficking, and other offences in the US, Canada, and other countries.
Authorities also charged Ravinder Singh Dhanda, 57, of Vancouver, Canada, along with 10 others, over an alleged large-scale drug smuggling operation. Investigators said the network imported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine every week from the United States into Canada.
“Today’s coordinated operation strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organisations that have terrorised families, exploited communities, and stolen lives through ruthless acts of violence in the US and abroad,” said Patrick Grandy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
