You probably think of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang as a localized problem confined to the northern plains of India. Maybe you know them from the tragic shooting of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala or their public threats against Bollywood stars. But federal prosecutors in Los Angeles just turned that narrative upside down.
A massive multi-country law enforcement operation codenamed Operation Hard Ball has unsealed three major federal indictments. The US Department of Justice just pulled back the curtain on a sprawling criminal network running drugs, running guns, and ordering assassinations right on North American soil.
The biggest shockwave? US prosecutors are now directly charging jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his Canada-based lieutenant Goldy Brar with ordering the June 2023 assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia.
Inside the Multi Continental Web of Operation Hard Ball
This isn't a minor police raid. It's a years-long investigation led by the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office alongside law enforcement partners in Canada, Spain, and India. The numbers tell a wild story.
Authorities charged 37 defendants across three distinct India-linked transnational organized crime groups. So far, 24 people are in custody, while 10 remain fugitives on the run. They executed dozens of search warrants, mostly concentrated with 23 in Sacramento and 11 in Los Angeles. What they recovered looks like a cartel's inventory list: roughly 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, a kilogram of heroin, 12 firearms, and $40,000 in cash.
The primary target is the Lawrence Bishnoi network. What makes this group bizarre is how it's managed. Bishnoi is 33 years old. He has spent most of the last decade behind bars, currently sitting inside a high-security jail in Ahmedabad, India. Yet, US investigators state he routinely runs a global multi-million-dollar empire using smuggled mobile phones and encrypted voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) applications.
He didn't just manage logistics from his cell. He built a persona. The indictment states Bishnoi carefully cultivates an online reputation as a "patriotic" and "religious" nationalist. He uses this specific image to attract young recruits into his network, which now numbers over 700 foot soldiers across the globe.
Ordering Hits and Stealing from Cartels
The US federal indictment specifically addresses the June 18, 2023, murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Canada. For years, this killing caused a massive diplomatic rift between Ottawa and New Delhi. While Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau previously pointed fingers at Indian government agents, this US indictment frames the murder as a direct contract hit ordered by Bishnoi and Goldy Brar from their respective locations.
According to prosecutors, Bishnoi used smuggled phones to send photographs and address details of the target to his co-conspirators. He then delegated operational execution to Goldy Brar in North America and Rohit Godara in Europe.
The gang used extreme violence to terrorize the wealthy Indian diaspora. They extorted prominent business owners, religious leaders, and political figures. In one documented incident between December 2025 and January 2026, the gang used encrypted WhatsApp messages to demand $5 million from a victim in the Los Angeles area. They threatened to murder the victim's family if they didn't pay up. To prove they weren't bluffing, Bishnoi even went on Facebook in November 2023 to claim credit for a shooting at the Vancouver home of a popular Indian actor, adding a chilling message: "No one can save you from us."
But extortion wasn't their only revenue stream. They funded these international hits by inserting themselves directly into the North American drug trade. And they weren't just moving product—they were actively ripping off traditional drug cartels.
Between March 2024 and July 2025, the Bishnoi crew allegedly stole 520 kilograms of cocaine from rival trafficking syndicates in the greater Los Angeles area. They kept some to sell and shipped the rest north. In November 2024, US authorities intercepted a long-haul semi-truck in Redlands, California, packed with 49 kilograms of Bishnoi-owned cocaine headed straight for the Canadian border.
The Other Two Syndicates Named in the Crackdown
Operation Hard Ball didn't stop with Bishnoi. The FBI simultaneously struck two other massive India-linked rings operating in North America.
The Jaggu Bhagwanpuria Enterprise
Jaggu Bhagwanpuria was once a close ally of Bishnoi before the two fell out and became bitter rivals in Punjab. Like Bishnoi, Bhagwanpuria is currently locked up in an Indian prison but allegedly commands a network of over 100 members spanning the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.
His group specialized in murder-for-hire, kidnapping, and complex extortion plots. The unsealed US indictment details a bizarre scheme from April 2026 involving an undocumented gang member named Gurlal Singh in Stockton, California. Singh allegedly utilized a corrupt police officer back home in Punjab to frame a local US victim's family for a fake murder in India, using the leverage to extort them.
The Ravinder Dhanda Network
The third indictment targets a highly sophisticated logistics operation allegedly run by Ravinder Singh Dhanda of Vancouver. Dhanda, who operates under the street alias "John Wick," allegedly ran a massive drug transportation ring alongside associates like Jaskarn Baghri.
They didn't focus on street-level violence. Instead, they focused on pure volume. The Dhanda network used commercial long-haul semi-trucks and farm vehicles to move hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine every single week. They picked up the narcotics from hubs across Southern California—including Ontario, Fontana, West Covina, and Perris—and used commercial trucking routes to slip them past the US-Canada border. During the raids, agents found 80 kilograms of pure cocaine hidden in the back of just one of Dhanda's truck trailers.
What Happens Next for Transnational Gangs
This multi-agency strike signals a radical shift in how Western intelligence views South Asian organized crime. It's no longer viewed as a regional law enforcement headache for India. It's officially categorized as a major threat to domestic security in the West.
Canada designated the Bishnoi gang as a terrorist organization, and this US federal crackdown effectively cuts off their primary financial lifelines in North America. The defendants arrested in California, Georgia, and Indiana are facing initial court appearances. Because of the sheer volume of narcotics and the violent nature of the racketeering charges, many of these individuals face mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years to life in federal prison.
Law enforcement is still hunting for the 10 remaining fugitives scattered across the US, India, and Europe. If you're a business owner or a member of the diaspora receiving strange, threatening messages on WhatsApp demanding wire transfers, don't delete them and don't pay. Local police departments and the FBI have established active task forces specifically tracking these India-linked extortion setups. Report the numbers immediately. The era of these gangs operating with impunity from thousands of miles away is officially over.
