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Federal agents crushed the California arm of a vicious transnational organized crime syndicate in series of stunning raids Tuesday that saw the arrest of at least a dozen accused criminals in the Golden State — and a dozen more elsewhere.
Los Angeles federal agents led the stunning global takedown of the India-based Bishnoi Gang, a fearsome global mob blamed for extortion, drug dealing and the assassination of political figures, industrialists, actors and musicians in North America and India.
As of 7 a.m., agents had conducted at least 50 raids in the US, Canada and Europe, taking at least two dozen suspects into custody.
As part of the investigation, law seized more than 2,200 pounds of cocaine and heroin, 40,000 cash and a dozen firearms.
At least five defendants were arrested in the Bay Area and at least eight were arrested in LA.
“The defendants charged in today’s indictment are alleged to have engaged in some of the most violent and barbaric activities we’ve seen,” said top LA prosecutor Bill Esayli.
“There will be zero tolerance for violent gangs in our communities, especially those from foreign nations who are not legally present in our country,” he added.
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The Bishnoi 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.
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“Operation Hard Ball” is the result of a years-long federal investigation into three Indian crime syndicates led by the Bishnoi that engage in racketeering, targeted killings, shootings, extortion, large-scale drug trafficking and other crimes.
The mysterious and murderous gang is led by 33-year-old Lawrence Bishnoi, a gangster long imprisoned in India, who runs the operation from his jail cell.
The Bishnoi gang is affiliated with an eco-religious sect by the same name founded in the 15th century in Rajasthan, and they worship an Indian antelope called the Blackbuck, which they consider to be a reincarnation of their spiritual guru.
Bishnoi delegates control of his gang to trusted lieutenants and regional leaders of the criminal enterprise to conduct “targeted killings, shootings, kidnappings, maimings, assaults, extortions, and drug trafficking,” court papers charge.
Among the crimes alleged in the Bishnoi indictment is the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent political and religious leader from India who was living in Canada at the time of his killing in 2023.
The criminal boss is accused of ordering two gunmen to shoot and kill Nijjar, 45, as he left a Sikh temple in British Columbia.
The Bishnoi gang routinely targeted prominent religious, social, and political leaders with violence, according to court papers, and used these high-profile acts to terrorize and extort members of the community.