“Socalj” for Borderland Beat
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Los Angeles federal agents led a global operation targeting of the India-based Bishnoi Gang, known for extortion, drug trafficking and the assassination of Indian political figures, industrialists, actors and musicians in the US, Canada and India.
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Operation Hard Ball
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At least five defendants were arrested in Northern California area, primarily in Sacramento and Stockton and at least 8 were arrested in the Los Angeles and Inland Empire area. Others arrests occured in Indiana and Georgia, along with three in Canada and one in Spain.
Authorities are also hunting seven fugitives in the US, two in India and one in Europe.
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| Lawrence Bishnoi |
Bishnoi Gang
The Bishnoi gang is designated as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government and is reported to have infiltrated Cricket Canada to lead match-fixing and corruption within the organization.
Bishnoi delegates control to regional leaders of the criminal enterprise to conduct “targeted killings, shootings, kidnappings, maimings, assaults, extortions, and drug trafficking,” court papers charge.
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| Hardeep Singh Nijjar |
Political Killings in Canada
Nijjar was a well-known political dissident who advocated for the creation of a Sikh homeland in northern India that would be known as Khalistan. India previously designated him a terrorist in connection with those efforts. Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the government of India of being behind the assassination.
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In November 2023, Bishnoi claimed responsibility for a separate shooting that occurred at the Vancouver, Canada residence of prominent Indian actor and singer Gippy Grewal, and warned in the Punjabi language in a Facebook post, “no one can save you from us.”
Members of the Bishnoi gang extorted victims through threats of violence, prosecutors charge, demanding in January 2026 that a wealthy Thousand Oaks resident make a $5 million payment.
The gang helped fund its activities through international drug trafficking and stealing drug shipments from rival gangs, often shipping cocaine in long-haul semi-trucks from the U.S. to Canada.
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| Satinderjeet Singh “Goldy Brar” |
The FBI has issued a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and extradition of fugitives who remain at large, specifically Bishnoi’s North American leader, Satinderjeet Singh “Goldy Brar.”
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He also took responsibility for the 2022 killing of Indian singer and politician Sidhu Moose Wala, according to a Facebook post by Brar.
Anmol Bishnoi, a younger brother of Lawrence, was deported from the United States to India last November in connection to the Moose Wala killing.
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| Jaggu Bhagwanpuria |
Rival Bhagwanpuria Gang
The feds on Tuesday also targeted members of the Bhagwanpuria gang, which was founded by Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, 38, a gangster imprisoned in India who is an associate-turned-rival of Bishnoi, and founded his own criminal enterprise in India’s Punjab state.
Dhanda Gang
US prosecutors also charged British Columbia resident Ravinder Singh Dhanda, 57, with smuggling hundreds of pounds of cocaine and methamphetamine each week from the US into Canada.
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Dhanda’s gang used semi trucks and farming trucks to move the drugs from Los Angeles, West Covina, Ontario, Fontana, and Perris to the US-Canada border, court papers say.
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On Jan. 20, 2025, Dhanda and two others met with an undercover agent in South Surrey to coordinate logistics for smuggling future loads of cocaine and methamphetamine out of the United States and into Canada, Dhanda stated he intended to start a “new cartel.”
Dhanda would negotiate transportation rates and logistics with representatives from drug trafficking organizations located in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere for transporting cocaine and methamphetamine from the United States to Canada.
Dhanda and Baghri would oversee and manage the storage, transportation, and international smuggling of cocaine and methamphetamine across the U.S.-Canada border, according to the indictment.
Sources DOJ, Global News, California Post, FOX11