As three accused drug smugglers appear in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday after a major U.S. investigation targeting the Bishnoi gang, two former cops are asking why no one has been charged in Canada.
The three so-called members of the Dhanda drug trafficking organization — Ravinder Dhanda, Gurtej Smagh and Jaskarn Baghri — were charged in one of three indictments stemming from Operation Hard Ball, headed by the FBI’s Los Angeles office.
Also among 37 people charged are gang leader Lawrence Bishnoi, who is imprisoned in India, and his fugitive lieutenant Goldy Brar, who the U.S. alleges ordered the Surrey murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardip Singh Nijjar in June 2023.
The U.S. said the Bishnoi transnational criminal network, and a second gang headed by Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, who is also in jail in India, had hundreds of operatives in Canada and the U.S. involved in murder-for-hire, extortion and drug trafficking.
Longtime B.C. gang associate Garinder Deo was charged in California with aiding the Bhagwanpuria group, while the Dhanda group members are only facing drug smuggling charges. Deo’s West Vancouver home was one of three Lower Mainland properties searched by police on Tuesday, but he has not yet been arrested.
While the RCMP aided U.S. law enforcement agencies with the massive investigation, two former police officers-turned-politicians said Wednesday that it’s troubling no charges have been laid in Canada.
Independent MLA Elenore Sturko, a former Surrey Mountie, said the fact the RCMP didn’t lead the investigation “is an embarrassment for Canada.”
“I still wonder if our criminal justice system, with respect to our laws, are sufficient for us to bring the same type of prosecutions that the United States seems to be able to manage when it comes to the protection of our own citizens,” Sturko said.
And a Richmond councillor and former B.C. solicitor general, Kash Heed, also formerly a long time police officer, said clearly Canada needs both legislative changes and a more robust policing model to tackle transnational organized crime.
“We’ve got significant transnational organized crime issues, whether it’s related to drug trafficking, money laundering, hired killers, or whatever, right here in Canada, and we do not have the tools, let alone the resources to go after them,” Heed said. “These charges are all based on U.S. indictments even when the crimes were committed on Canadian soil.”
Arrests are made in Northern California on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 in a sweeping U.S. investigation called Operation Hard Ball, targeting India’s Bishnoi gang and two other transnational crime groups.
Both Sturko and Heed said while they welcomed the charges, they don’t know if there will be an impact on the extortion crisis in B.C.
Heed said while the U.S. targeting leaders of extortion gangs, many of the recent cases in B.C. appear to involve lower-level “local thugs.”
“I’m not sure it’s going to be a deterrent. We’ll have to wait and see whether it is,” Heed said.
Sturko noted that there was a new extortion-related shooting in Surrey the same day as the U.S. charges were announced.
“I’m not going to deny that these indictments are definitely a positive investigative outcome, but clearly the fact that shootings are still happening shows that we actually continue to have a lot of work to do,” Sturko said.
“Going after the kingpins of transnational crime, going after the kingpins of major drug trafficking organizations and extortion rings, is something that we, as a country, should be able to do, and to be leaders in, not necessarily just participants,” Sturko said.
Abbotsford Police Chief Colin Watson said the “arrests and charges represent a significant step in disrupting transnational organized crime networks that have been linked to violence, intimidation, extortion, drug trafficking, and firearms offences affecting communities across British Columbia and Canada.”
“Criminal organizations thrive on fear and their ability to operate across borders. For Abbotsford residents, this action, together with the actions taken and the provincial and local levels, enhances public safety by targeting organized crime groups at all levels of their infrastructure,” he said.
Abbotsford had already had a significant drop in extortion cases in 2026, with just 14 non-violent extortion attempts in the first six months of the year. Of those, 10 were phone calls and four were letters.
The Dhanda defendants allegedly “provided international smuggling services for bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to drug trafficking organizations located in the United States, Mexico, and elsewhere,” a U.S. indictment said.
And they were aided by “an individual working for the Canada Border Services Agency,” the document said.
The agency referred Postmedia to the RCMP for comment on the allegation against a staff member.
Jessica Kingsbury, RCMP deputy director of media relations, said in a statement Wednesday that the RCMP would only confirm an investigation is underway if criminal charges are laid.
“This is done to protect the integrity of an investigation, any evidence obtained, and the privacy of those involved,” she said, referring Postmedia back to the U.S. Justice Department.
“We have confidence in the work of our domestic and international law enforcement partners. The RCMP continues to work closely with partners in Canada and abroad on national security matters, including through information sharing and coordinated investigative efforts.”
Dhanda was arrested Tuesday at his South Surrey house in the 16300-block of 36A Avenue, assessed at $2.67 million.
While Dhanda has no criminal record in B.C., he was charged in California in 2007 with conspiring to distribute cocaine. The earlier indictment said he allegedly brokered cocaine deals and co-ordinated with others to truck the drugs to Canada.
But after years on the books, the charges against him were dismissed last year “without prejudice.”
Another property searched by police Tuesday in connection with the U.S. investigation was in the 13500-block of 79 Avenue.
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