The province is seeking to seize a $5.5-million home the FBI and RCMP link to Indian gangs’ extortion and drug trafficking in Metro Vancouver<\/p>\n
A West Vancouver man alleged to be a gang kingpin connected to extortion and international drug trafficking has been arrested in France as part of the FBI\u2019s Operation Hardball, the RCMP said Friday.<\/p>\n
Garinder Singh Deo, 40, was taken into custody\u00a0on Tuesday and is awaiting extradition to the United States, according to the RCMP\u2019s Federal Policing Pacific Region.<\/p>\n
Deo was arrested the same day that his West Vancouver home at 2030 Westdean Cres.\u00a0was raided by the RCMP accompanied by armoured emergency response team members.<\/p>\n
Other arrests were made worldwide on Tuesday following the\u00a0joint two-year investigation\u00a0focussing on incidents of extortion and violence that have chiefly targeted members of the South Asian diaspora including multiple incidents in Metro Vancouver. Those included the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent political and religious leader from India\u2019s Punjab state who was gunned down as he left a Sikh temple in Surrey in June 2023.<\/p>\n
Deo is listed as a beneficial owner of the West Vancouver property raided by police as well as president and sole director of the numbered company that is the registered owner of the home.<\/p>\n
B.C.’s Civil Forfeiture Office has also filed court documents asking that the $5.5 million home, as well as two other properties in Surrey where Deo is also the beneficial owner, be seized and handed over to the government\u00a0as proceeds of crime.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, Deo bought the Westdean property through his numbered company in 2020 for $2.8 million, then rebuilt the home on site in 2023.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, between July 2021 and December 2025, \u201csuspicious transactions\u201d by Deo, his wife and other family members totalling $2 million were reported by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. Those included \u201clarge or rapid movement of funds,”\u00a0financial activity not commensurate with his stated occupation, unknown sources of funds, large payments towards credit cards, luxury spending, and transactions consistent with \u201cunlawful activities\u201d, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
In 2024, the RCMP began a joint\u00a0investigation with the FBI into organized criminal activities centred on three India-based gangs, according to the court documents. Deo was among those investigated for his connections to organized crime gangs in Metro Vancouver as well as drug trafficking, money laundering, guns running and activities that enriched terrorist groups, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Those alleged crimes were spelled out in more detail in U.S. indictment documents, which list Deo\u00a0\u2013\u00a0also known as \u201cDoctor,\u201d \u201cRocket,\u201d and \u201cRitz Carlton\u201d
\n\u2013\u00a0among a group who conspired to traffic heroin and cocaine from \u201cMexico-based sources of supply for distribution to clients in Canada and the eastern United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
In its lawsuit, B.C.\u2019s Director of Civil Forfeiture has asked the courts to forfeit the West Vancouver house and the two Surrey properties to the government, because \u201csome or\u00a0all of the funds used to acquire or maintain the properties were proceeds of the unlawful activity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Operation Hardball also included investigation into trafficking of large quantities of drugs across the Canada-U.S. border, many of those in long-haul semi trucks.<\/p>\n
A total of 37 people have been charged in connection with the investigation, including two men who allegedly ran their criminal organizations from jail in India.<\/p>\n
Three people in B.C. were taken into custody by the RCMP on provisional arrest warrants. An application will be made to have them extradited to the U.S.<\/p>\n
According to the U.S. indictments, the criminal gangs routinely targeted prominent members of the community including religious leaders for extortion.<\/p>\n