Three separate indictments filed by the US Department of Justice have revealed that confidential informants and undercover operatives played a very important role in the investigation that started in the year 2023. On the basis of these investigations, the arrest of 24 people associated with Bishnoi, Bhagwanpuria and Dhandhra organized crime groups was announced on Tuesday.
According to the indictments, US law enforcement agencies conducted a long-term covert investigation under “Operation Hard Ball”. During this, gangs were infiltrated through informers and undercover officers and evidence was collected against them.
According to the charge sheet, the investigation first started with Canada-based drug smuggler Ravinder Singh Dhandhra. He is accused of delivering large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to other drug trafficking organizations operating in the US, Canada and Mexico.
How was it revealed?
On July 10, 2023, Dhandhara contacted a person whom he believed to be a drug transport coordinator. He asked for the number and other information of a drug transporter to deliver cocaine to a person in Los Angeles. But the person Dhandhara was contacting was actually an intelligence informant working for US law enforcement agencies, who has been named CI-1 in the charge sheet. Dhandhra passed the information received from CI-1 to another representative of his drug smuggling network.
How did you meet the intelligence agents?
Just over a week later, CI-1 met Dhandhara and an associate in a park in Blaine, Washington. Smuggling of cocaine and methamphetamine across the US-Canada border was discussed in the meeting. After this CI-1 came in regular contact with Dhandhara’s network. He helped facilitate the delivery of several consignments of cocaine and meth in August and October 2023. Dhandhra also got the drug consignments delivered to his organization verified by CI-1. This contact will continue till November 2024 and January 2025. Dhandhara was later arrested by the Canadian police.
How did the agents reach Bhagwanpuria gang?
While the investigation was going on against the Dhandhara gang, American agencies adopted a similar strategy to reach the Bhagwanpuria gang of Punjab. According to the second chargesheet, on June 17, 2024, members of the Bhagwanpuriya gang sold five kilograms of cocaine to a person whom they considered to be their criminal associate. However, that person was also a confidential informant of American agencies CI-1. It is not made clear in the charge sheet whether this was the same CI-1 who had made contact with the Dhandhara gang. In exchange for this deal, the gang took $45,000 from CI-1.
How did the matter reach weapons?
According to the charge sheet, in July 2025, members of the Bhagwanpuria gang offered to sell weapons like AK-47 rifles and grenades to CI-1. On September 4, 2025, a deal was struck in a parking lot in California, where CI-1 purchased a pistol and ammunition from the gang for $2,000. A few months later, in September 2025, CI-1 also purchased semi-automatic rifles and ammunition from the gang. After this, in October and December 2025 also, he maintained his contact with the gang by purchasing weapons worth thousands of dollars from them.
In February 2026, the Bhagwanpuria gang made a plan to send 20 kg of cocaine from America to Canada. The gang thought that this was the real cocaine consignment, which they had received from CI-1. But, according to the charge sheet, this entire consignment was fake. American agencies seized it on 23 February. During the investigation, members of Bhagwanpuria gang sent a message to CI-1 alleging that he had planted trackers in the drug consignment. It has also been said in the charge sheet that the leader of Bhagwanpuria gang is currently lodged in a jail in India.
How was the undercover officer used?
According to the third chargesheet, the US government used an undercover officer, named UC-1, to gather evidence against the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. On January 11, 2025, Bishnoi gang member Sukraj Singh Kang contacted a man whom the gang believed owed a debt of $100,000 to $200,000. But that person was also CI-1, a confidential informant of American agencies. According to the charge sheet, Sukraj Singh Kang agreed to collect money from the alleged borrower in exchange for a fee of $16,000.
Threat to kill undercover officer
After this, members of Bishnoi gang contacted a person whom they considered to be indebted to CI-1. Actually he was UC-1, an undercover officer of American law enforcement agencies. According to the charge sheet, in several conversations during 2025, members of the Bishnoi gang threatened UC-1 that if he did not pay $2 lakh, he would be killed.
During this time, CI-1 was also introduced to the members of Bishnoi gang who were involved in this alleged extortion case. The investigation said that even after paying less than the stipulated amount through UC-1, the gang members continued to threaten him during 2025, due to which the agencies got more evidence against him.
What did the agency do after collecting the evidence?
Based on the evidence collected during all these investigations, American law enforcement agencies presented the case before the Grand Jury. On June 23, a charge sheet was filed against the Dhandhara gang. After this, charge sheet was filed against Bhagwanpuriya gang on 25th June. Finally, on July 1, the charge sheet was filed against the Bishnoi gang. After this, American agencies, taking action under “Operation Hard Ball”, announced the arrest of the accused associated with these organized crime gangs.
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