![\"Law](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fbi20sweep.jpg\" "\\"Law")
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Law enforcement arrested 11 in California Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in connection to an alleged crime syndiate operating in India.<\/p>\n
FBI<\/p>\n
An FBI operation dubbed \u201cOperation Hard Ball\u201d led to 24 arrests across California, Canada and Spain in a coordinated strike against organized crime rooted in India. The sweep put a spotlight on allegations of transnational repression that Sikh communities have said is a major problem and needs more attention.<\/p>\n
FULL STORY: FBI targets India crime mob California connections. \u2018What the real thing looks like\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Here are key takeaways:<\/p>\n Federal prosecutors charged 37 defendants and arrested 24 people, including 11 in California and one in Sacramento. Agents executed more than 50 search warrants, seizing roughly 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, a dozen firearms and $40,000 in cash.Prosecutors linked jailed gang boss Lawrence Bishnoi\u2019s network to the 2023 assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada \u2014 the first time U.S. authorities have made that allegation publicly. Canada had previously said India\u2019s government ordered the killing. The Bishnoi allegation shows how India\u2019s intelligence may have used ties with gangsters who reside in Indian prisons but continue to wield enormous power.Indictments describe bosses Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria orchestrating murder, extortion and drug-trafficking from Indian prison cells using contraband cellphones and encrypted apps to order killings and shake down shopkeepers abroad.Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, D-Delano, thanked the FBI but criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom for vetoing SB 509, which would have trained law enforcement to recognize transnational repression. The bill unanimously passed the assembly in 2025.Dan Stanton, a former Canadian intelligence officer and expert in transnational repression, said state actors including Iran and India have funded organized crime for political aims. He noted Canada designated the Bishnoi group a terrorist entity in September 2025.A Madera restaurant owner described being shot at, receiving extortion demands of half a million dollars from callers claiming Bishnoi gang ties, and having his uncle in India shot 10 days after the first attack. <\/p>\n This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media\u2019s AI policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Law enforcement arrested 11 in California Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in connection to an alleged crime syndiate operating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-394704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=394704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}