New Delhi [India], June 9 (ANI): Several gangsters and organised crime operatives wanted in India for charges ranging from murder and extortion to narcotics smuggling and terror-related activities allegedly continue to run criminal networks from the United States and Canada, as per a report published by Newsweek.
The report highlighted how fugitives linked to gangs and other organised criminal syndicates allegedly entered North America via student visas, seeking asylum and through illegal immigration routes, before rebuilding networks that now operate across multiple countries.
Newsweek reported that a former DHS officer said that they did not arrive to prey on Americans. Not at first. They came because the United States and Canada were safe ground from which to commit crimes against people back home. It highlighted how sitting in an apartment in the Central Valley or a suburb outside Vancouver, they could order killings in India, knowing that extradition is slow, that an asylum claim can stretch on for years, and that a notice from Indian police will not, by itself, get him arrested.
It highlighted how the model which initially terrorised businessmen in India started dialling up on shop owners in Sacramento with the same logistics networks that moved guns and cash began moving cocaine and the chemicals used to make fentanyl.
According to the Newsweek report, the governments in India, Canada and the US now describe the same organization in strikingly similar language. While the FBI calls it one of India's most wanted criminal networks, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police calls it a transnational criminal organization and the Indian police call it a syndicate that reaches across continents.
Newsweek said that its report drew upon inputs from an inter-governmental fugitive via verified sources in India, across continents, federal indictments, Interpol notices, filings by India's National Investigation Agency, statements from Indian state police, and publically available Canadian government records.
It listed several people whom it said were subject of public charges, a formal designation, or law enforcement action and added that allegations remain allegations until a court says otherwise.
Lawrence Bishnoi, Anmol Bishnoi, Goldy Brar, Arsh Dala, Bhanu Rana, Arvind Kumar and Sunil Kumar, Charanjit Singh, Darmanjot Singh were amongst several of those mentioned in the report with fugitives who are facing several cases in India ranging from murder, narcoticsa smuggling, extortion to being designated under the UAPA.
Newsweek reported how investigators in India, the United States and Canada believe these networks increasingly rely on encrypted applications, cryptocurrency transactions and overseas handlers to coordinate operations while distancing gang leaders from direct involvement.
Haryana Special Task Force Inspector General B Satheesh Balan told Newsweek, 'A gangster no longer needs to physically be present in Haryana to order an extortion, a shooting, or an intimidation attack.'
He described the gangs as operating through 'a hybrid model combining overseas command, digital anonymity, local execution, and psychological warfare.'
Newsweek flagged how in a span of a few years, the crimes have gone from extortion and murder, to cash and cryptocurrency, from pistols to fentanyl and recruits getting younger.
The report stated that while India has repeatedly sought extradition of several fugitives allegedly residing in Canada and the United States, legal and procedural hurdles have slowed deportation and extradition efforts.
According to the report, US authorities acknowledged increased cooperation with Indian agencies on organised crime and narcotics investigations but maintained that due legal processes surrounding Interpol notices and asylum protections often delay enforcement action. (ANI)
