The United States on Tuesday issued formal charges against Indian gangsters, including Lawrence Bishnoi and his associates, describing the sweeping crackdown on these organized crime networks as “Operation Hardball”.
Federal indictments identify Bishnoi and his North American-based aide Goldie Brar for allegedly ordering the June 2023 assassination of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nigar in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
Bishnoi’s case was among the three indictments unveiled on Tuesday. Together, these devices charge 37 people. Eleven of the 24 detainees were being held in California, and one each in Indiana and Georgia. Three of the suspects were arrested in Canada and one in Spain, while seven were already in custody. Detainees in the United States are expected to appear in court for the first time on Wednesday.
Ten fugitives remain at large – seven in the United States, two in India, and one in Europe.
About the hard ball process
The US Department of Justice statement said Operation Hardball was a coordinated investigation conducted by agencies in the United States, Canada, Spain and India.
Tracing criminal gangs with roots in India, the statement said the investigation examined networks allegedly involved in extortion, contract killings, extortion, kidnapping, international drug trafficking, arms crimes and human smuggling across multiple countries.
During the operation, the duration of which was not disclosed, 34 search warrants were executed — 23 in Sacramento and 11 in Los Angeles — and approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of heroin, $40,000 in cash and 12 firearms were found, the release said.
Prosecutors alleged that Bishnoi’s network funded itself in part through international cocaine trafficking, including 49 kilograms intercepted in California in 2024 en route to Canada, and through the theft of approximately 520 kilograms of cocaine from competing trafficking groups in the Los Angeles area between 2024 and 2025.
Lawrence Bishnoi, gangs and the trade in fear
Bishnoi (33 years old) is considered one of the most prominent gangsters in India and spent most of the past decade in prison after starting out as a student leader in Punjab and building a criminal network that spread to several countries. He has been detained in India since 2015.
US prosecutors alleged that Bishnoi built a reputation as a “patriotic”, “religious” and “nationalist” to attract recruits, while running the gang from behind bars using smuggled phones and Internet communications devices.
Bishnoi is currently in a prison in Ahmedabad.
The indictment accuses him of directing murders, political assassinations, kidnapping, extortion, drug trafficking and human smuggling. It notes that Canada designated his organization as a terrorist entity in 2025.
Prosecutors also alleged that Bishnoi delegated control to a class of “lieutenants” – Goldie Brar ran operations across North America, coordinating activities in the US and Canada, and Rajasthan’s Rohit Godara, 37, led the network’s activities in Europe.
The Justice Department said Sukhraj Singh Kang, 58, of Punjab, helped run operations in several countries on behalf of Bishnoi.
The most widely known murder committed by the gang before Najjar’s murder was that of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022. Investigators linked the matter to gang rivalry and claimed that the gang planned the attack.
The indictment describes the network as operating as a multinational criminal enterprise. Victims were reportedly blackmailed via WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging apps, with threats made to them or their families.
Two other gangs linked to India have been charged alongside the Bishnoi network. The Bhagwanpuria gang faces charges of murder for hire, extortion and drug smuggling, while the Danda network is accused of smuggling hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine from Southern California to Canada.
“Working together, law enforcement authorities in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia are determined to target and dismantle these criminal organizations wherever they operate. There is no safe haven for these thugs,” the statement quoted Bill Al-Asili, First Assistant US Attorney, as saying.
If convicted, the defendants in the three indictments face sentences ranging from 10 years to life in prison under US federal law.
