37 Defendants. Three Federal Indictments. Inside “Operation Hard Ball” — the Takedown of California’s Bishnoi Crime Network.
Before dawn on July 7, 2026, federal agents fanned out across Sacramento, Los Angeles, and California’s Central Valley, executing search and arrest warrants tied to three federal indictments the Department of Justice and FBI unsealed the same day. Prosecutors in the Central District of California charged 37 people connected to the network built around Lawrence Bishnoi — the imprisoned Indian gangster whose crew has become one of the most feared transnational criminal organizations operating out of California — along with two allied India-based groups, the Bhagwanpuria and Dhanda networks.
The Justice Department calls the operation “Hard Ball.” Officials describe a criminal enterprise that allegedly used California as a logistics and cash hub for extortion, narcotics trafficking, and gun trafficking stretching from the Central Valley to Punjab. One of the three indictments goes further: it charges members of the network, including Bishnoi lieutenant Satinderjeet Singh, better known as “Goldy Brar,” in connection with the June 2023 assassination of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
All 37 defendants are charged, not convicted, and are entitled to the presumption of innocence — including Bishnoi and Brar on the Nijjar-related count, which remains a conspiracy allegation, not an adjudicated fact. Every name in this story is presented as an accusation until a court says otherwise.
- 37defendantscharged across three federal indictments unsealed July 7, 2026 — DOJ, U.S. Attorney's Office, C.D. Cal.
- 24arreststotal: 17 executed same-day worldwide (11 California, 1 Indiana, 1 Georgia, 3 Canada, 1 Spain), plus 7 already in custody — DOJ
- ~1,000 kgcocaineplus 1 kilogram of heroin, seized across the investigation — DOJ
- $40,000cash seizedalongside 12 firearms, including a machine gun — DOJ
- $50,000FBI rewardoffered for fugitive Satinderjeet Singh, aka 'Goldy Brar' — FBI Wanted
- June 18, 2023Nijjar killingdate of Hardeep Singh Nijjar's assassination outside a Surrey, B.C. gurdwara, now tied to one of the three indictments — CNN
Federal agents arrested 24 people as part of Operation Hard Ball, executed simultaneously across three continents. Thirteen of those arrests were made inside the United States — 11 in California, one in Indiana, and one in Georgia — while three defendants were arrested in Canada and one in Spain. Seven others named in the indictments were already in custody on unrelated charges before the operation began, bringing the total to 24 people now arrested or already held, against 37 defendants charged overall.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli (R) — a former California State Assemblyman now leading the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California — framed the operation as a direct message to transnational gangs operating in the state.
“Transnational criminal gangs who spread fear, drugs, and violence will face the full force of justice and the weight of the federal government... There is no safe harbor for these thugs.”
Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney, Central District of California (R)
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Patrick Grandy, who oversees the bureau’s Los Angeles field office, described the three networks as a single problem the government chose to hit all at once.
“Today's coordinated operation strikes at the heart of three brutal transnational organizations that have terrorized families, exploited communities, and stolen lives.”
Patrick Grandy, FBI Assistant Director in Charge, Los Angeles
The three indictments — U.S. v. Bishnoi et al., U.S. v. Bhagwanpuria et al., and U.S. v. Dhanda et al., all filed in the Central District of California — describe a loose alliance of India-based organized-crime groups that prosecutors say used Sacramento, Los Angeles, and the Central Valley as an American base of operations. Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, the two principals whose names anchor the first two cases, remain imprisoned in India and are charged in the U.S. case in absentia. U.S. authorities are reportedly seeking Bishnoi’s extradition, though no extradition has occurred as of this writing.
Prosecutors allege the network ran narcotics and gun trafficking alongside its extortion operations, with a string of interdictions building the paper trail behind the July 7 indictments. In November 2024, agents seized 49 kilograms of cocaine in Redlands. Between March 2024 and July 2025, investigators allege the network stole roughly 520 kilograms of cocaine from rival trafficking crews across greater Los Angeles. In June 2025, agents interdicted 99.2 kilograms of cocaine and 1 kilogram of heroin. And across July 2023 to November 2024, a separate seizure totaled 430.1 kilograms of cocaine. DOJ puts the operation’s overall haul at roughly 1,000 kilograms of cocaine and 1 kilogram of heroin, alongside $40,000 in cash and 12 firearms, including a machine gun, recovered during the July 7 raids themselves.
U.S. v. Bishnoi et al. — the lead case, naming Lawrence Bishnoi and members of his network, including the count tied to the Nijjar assassination.
U.S. v. Bhagwanpuria et al. — charges against the allied network built around Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, also imprisoned in India and charged in absentia.
U.S. v. Dhanda et al. — the third indictment, charging members of the Dhanda network on related extortion and trafficking counts.
All three were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and unsealed July 7, 2026. Every defendant is presumed innocent.
The indictments describe an extortion operation that prosecutors say targeted business owners directly. Between December 2025 and January 2026, the network allegedly demanded $5 million from a victim in Thousand Oaks. In a separate count, prosecutors charge Bishnoi-network lieutenant Rajan Bhatti with attempting to extort $200,000 from a person he believed to be a business owner — who was, in fact, an undercover federal officer. The indictment alleges Bhatti threatened the officer directly.
“We're going to cause harm to you...Your kids, your family, everyone.”
Alleged threat by defendant Rajan Bhatti, as described in the indictment — not a proven fact
This was not a new pattern to investigators. An April 2026 CalMatters investigation, published months before the July 7 raids, documented years of extortion by the network against California’s Sikh and Indian communities. One California businessman told CalMatters he had been extorted for roughly $1 million total over two and a half months. Central Valley Sheriff Patrick Withrow, quoted in that piece, described a sustained campaign of threats against business owners in the region — reporting that lines up directly with the extortion counts in the indictments.
On June 18, 2023, Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia — a killing that strained U.S. and Canadian relations with India for years afterward. The U.S. v. Bishnoi indictment charges members of the network, including Satinderjeet Singh, known by the alias “Goldy Brar,” in connection with a conspiracy tied to that assassination. Brar remains a fugitive; the FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
One distinction matters here, and CNN’s reporting draws it explicitly: the U.S. indictment itself does not allege Indian government involvement in the Nijjar assassination. Broader allegations of state sponsorship behind the killing have been reported separately and are not part of the charges described in this case — this story does not conflate the two. What the indictment does allege is a conspiracy among members of the Bishnoi network. Separately, Hoodline notes that Canada designated the Bishnoi network a terrorist entity in September 2025, months before this week’s U.S. charges.
Of the 37 defendants, 24 have now been arrested or were already in custody. Eleven remain fugitives: eight still believed to be in the United States, two in India, and one in Europe. Among the eight is Satinderjeet Singh (“Goldy Brar”), the highest-profile name still at large. Bishnoi and Bhagwanpuria remain imprisoned in India on separate matters, charged here in absentia.
Satinderjeet Singh, aka “Goldy Brar” — fugitive; FBI reward of $50,000.
7 additional defendants believed to remain in the United States.
2 defendants believed to be in India; 1 defendant believed to be in Europe.
Lawrence Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria — imprisoned in India, charged in absentia; Bishnoi’s extradition is reportedly being sought by U.S. authorities.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, whose department joined the federal task force behind the operation, described how central Los Angeles had become to the network’s business.
“Used LA as kind of the crossroads of their criminal enterprise, whether it's drugs, extortion, murder, or other things.”
Jim McDonnell, LAPD Chief
On the Canadian side, the three arrests were carried out by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under Commissioner Mike Duheme, coordinating with U.S. authorities as part of the same operation.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) — no public statement on the raids found as of this writing.
Attorney General Rob Bonta (D-CA) — no public statement on the raids found as of this writing.
The mayors of the California cities where warrants were executed — including Sacramento and Los Angeles — have not issued public statements on the operation as of this writing.
The operation itself was federal: the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, the FBI, LAPD, and the RCMP, independent of state or city leadership.
Nothing here is settled. All 37 defendants are charged, not convicted, and are presumed innocent — including Bishnoi and Brar on the count tied to the Nijjar assassination, which remains an allegation the government will have to prove in court. Eleven defendants remain fugitives, and whether Bishnoi or Bhagwanpuria are ever extradited from India to face these charges in a U.S. courtroom is, for now, an open question.
Thirty-seven people charged, three federal indictments, 24 arrests spanning three continents, and roughly 1,000 kilograms of cocaine off the street — all tracing back to a California base prosecutors say an imprisoned Indian gangster built to run extortion and trafficking, and which one count now ties to a 2023 assassination in Canada. Every defendant is presumed innocent. Eleven remain fugitives, and the fight over extradition is only beginning.
