Three men in British Columbia have been arrested and charged in connection with a major sweep by law enforcement in the United States, Canada and Europe linked to three transnational organized crime groups based in India, FBI officials announced Tuesday.
At a joint press conference Tuesday, the RCMP and FBI announced several arrests and charges against leaders of three global organized crime networks: Lawrence BishnoiRavinder Dhanda and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria.
RCMP said these groups have been engaged in extortion, drug trafficking, kidnapping and widespread violence, namely the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the year 2023.
Nijjar was shot outside Guru Nanak Singh Gurdwara in Surrey in June 2023.
“The charges laid out in the indictment include allegations that Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar directed the 2023 assassination of a prominent Sikh leader in Canada, identified by his initials HSN in the indictment,” Bilal A. Essay, First Assistant US Attorney, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
“The gang used this murder and other high-profile acts of violence to terrorize Sikh and other Indian communities, and they used acts of violence to legitimize and bolster widespread extortion schemes.”
Bishnoi is in jail in India and Satinderjeet Singh, 32, known as “Goldy Brar”, from Punjab, India, is believed to be the North American leader of the Bishnoi enterprise.
The Canadian government in September 2025 designated the Bishnoi enterprise as a terrorist entity.
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In November 2023, Bishnoi took responsibility for a particular shot that took place at the home of a prominent Indian actor and singer in Vancouver and warned in Punjabi in a Facebook post, “no one can save you from us.”
Ravinder Singh Dhanda, 57, aka “Randy,” “Rolex” and “John Wick,” of Vancouver, Jaskarn Baghri, 50, aka “Baba,” of Surrey, Gurtej Singh Smagh, 43, aka “Simba,” of Creston, and eight other co-defendants were charged on June 2. alleging that they transported, smuggled and distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine each week from the US to Canada.
According to the indictment, Dhanda ran a drug distribution network that provided international smuggling services for large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) in the US, Canada and Mexico. The FBI stated in a release that it negotiated shipping fees and logistics with these DTOs and subcontracted the storage and transportation of these drugs.
Cocaine and methamphetamine were concealed and transported in semi-trucks long distances from the greater Los Angeles area – including Los Angeles, West Covina, Ontario, Fontana and Perris – to the US-Canada border. Sometimes, farm trucks from working farms were used to hide the narcotics en route to Canada, the FBI said in a press release.
The indictment specifically alleges the shipment of 430.1 kilograms (948.2 pounds) of cocaine between July 2023 and November 2024.
The indictment charges one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export controlled substances, one count of operating a continuing criminal enterprise and five counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
The three men will appear in BC Supreme Court at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
In all, 24 people have been arrested in what the FBI called Operation Hard Ball, a years-long federal investigation into Indian crime syndicates involved in racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, cross-border drug trafficking and other crimes around the world.
In all, 37 defendants, including two defendants who ran their own global crime syndicates while imprisoned in India, were charged in three indictments unsealed Tuesday, the FBI said.
“This is a huge moment for the RCMP and for public safety in Canada, the United States and around the world,” RCMP Commissioner Mark Duheme said in a statement.
“It’s a reminder of what can be accomplished when we work together with partners both in Canada and abroad, meeting criminals where they operate, targeting the leadership structures of these criminal groups and ending their ability to terrorize and extort people. At the same time, we’re stopping a significant flow of drugs and firearms into Canada.”
Law enforcement is still searching for seven fugitives, including seven in the US, two in India and one in Europe.
Officers also seized about 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and a kilogram of heroin, along with $40,000 in cash and a dozen firearms.
“Today’s coordinated operation strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organizations that have terrorized 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 office.
An indictment is simply an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
More to come.
-with files from The Canadian Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
