A federal grand jury indictment returned on June 25 charged 17 defendants in United States v. Bhagwanpuria, et al., alleging they operated a transnational criminal enterprise involved in murder-for-hire, drug trafficking, kidnappings, extortion, weapons trafficking, and other crimes across the United States, Canada, and other countries. The indictment identifies Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, 38, of Punjab, India, as the founder of the Bhagwanpuria gang after splitting from the Bishnoi group.
Prosecutors allege the Bhagwanpuria gang is headquartered in India and operates across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, with more than 1,000 members and associates worldwide, including more than 100 in the United States. The indictment claims the group used corrupt law enforcement officers and government officials in India to carry out extortion schemes and target rivals through false criminal accusations.
According to the indictment, in April 2026, Gurlal Singh, 22, of Stockton, California, allegedly threatened a victim and shared the victim’s identity with a corrupt police officer in Punjab, leading to false murder accusations against the victim, the victim’s father, and sister, as well as an extortion attempt. Another alleged member, Gurdev Singh, 26, is accused of attempting to extort a family in Ohio while in ICE custody. Authorities also allege the gang financed its activities through drug trafficking networks in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, along with illegal firearms dealing.
The indictment also alleges Garinder Deo, 40, known as “Doctor,” “Rocket,” and “Ritz Carlton,”, helped arrange cocaine and heroin shipments from Southern California to the eastern United States. Investigators said an attempted shipment in June 2025 containing 99.2 kilograms (218.7 pounds) of cocaine and one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of heroin was intercepted. Charges include racketeering conspiracy, attempted Hobbs Act extortion, drug trafficking conspiracy, cocaine distribution, conspiracy to deal firearms without a license, and possession of a machine gun.
In a separate case, United States v. Dhanda, et al., an eight-count indictment returned June 23 charged Ravinder Singh Dhanda, 57, Jaskarn Baghri, 50, Gurtej Singh Smagh, 43, and eight other defendants with transporting, smuggling, and distributing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine each week from the United States into Canada. Prosecutors allege the network shipped 430.1 kilograms (948.2 pounds) of cocaine between July 2023 and November 2024 using long-haul semi-trucks and farm trucks.
FBI Director Kash Patel said U.S. law enforcement, working with partners in Canada, Europe, India, and Mexico, arrested 24 suspects and charged 37 individuals linked to three India-based transnational organized crime groups. He said the charges include racketeering, extortion, narcotics trafficking, and multiple targeted killings, including the 2023 assassination in Canada of a prominent Indian political and religious figure.
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