'Operation Hard Ball': US, Canada Bust India-Linked Crime Rings; Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Named In Nijjar Killing

Published 7 July 2026 · india

'Operation Hard Ball': US, Canada Bust India-Linked Crime Rings; Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Named In Nijjar Killing Reported By, Last Updated: July 08, 2026, 00:52 IST

'Operation Hard Ball': US, Canada Bust India-Linked Crime Rings; Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Named In Nijjar Killing Reported By, Last Updated: July 08, 2026, 00:52 IST US and Canadian authorities described the joint effort as a landmark success in neutralising modern borderless crime structures The first indictment details the operations of the Bishnoi group, asserting that 33-year-old Lawrence Bishnoi managed a sophisticated transnational criminal enterprise from his jail cell in India using smuggled mobile phones and secure internet protocols. File images A massive, multi-nation law enforcement operation spanning the United States, Canada, and Europe has dismantled three global organised crime networks rooted in “India-based" syndicates. Dubbed “Operation Hard Ball", the coordinated crackdown resulted in the arrest of 24 defendants facing federal charges for an array of violent crimes, extortion plots, and international narcotics trafficking. Crucially, the unsealed American indictments explicitly link the enterprise of imprisoned gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to the high-profile June 18, 2023, killing of alleged Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a temple in Surrey, British Columbia. The sweeping federal investigation targeted 37 total defendants across three distinct indictments unsealed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Law enforcement executed dozens of search warrants across Sacramento, Los Angeles, and British Columbia, leading to the seizure of approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of heroin, a dozen firearms, and substantial cash reserves.

While 11 defendants were apprehended in California and others across Indiana and Georgia, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) executed provisional arrest warrants to take three individuals into custody in British Columbia for subsequent extradition to the United States. Concurrently, international partners secured an arrest in Spain, while ten fugitives remain at large across Europe, India, and North America. The first indictment details the operations of the Bishnoi group, asserting that 33-year-old Lawrence Bishnoi managed a sophisticated transnational criminal enterprise from his jail cell in India using smuggled mobile phones and secure internet protocols. According to prosecutors, Bishnoi and his high-ranking North American lieutenant, Satinderjeet Singh, popularly known as Goldy Brar, ordered the 2023 hit on Nijjar, who is designated in court documents by the initials “H.S.N." The syndicate, which was formally classified as a terrorist entity by the Canadian government in late 2025, reportedly weaponised social media and encrypted messaging platforms to extort millions of dollars from affluent victims within the Indian diaspora, including targets in Los Angeles who were threatened with severe violence. A separate seven-count indictment focuses on a distinct transnational network founded by Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, a former associate turned rival of Bishnoi, who is also currently incarcerated in an Indian facility.