B.C. man arrested in France as part of investigation into India-based crime groups

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme, left, speaks as he concludes a news conference with Assistant Commissioner Brigitte Gauvin, right, at RCMP National Headquarters in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

A 40-year-old man from West Vancouver, B.C., is awaiting extradition to the U.S. after being arrested in France as part of the FBI’s Operation Hard Ball investigation into transnational organized crime groups, the RCMP said Friday.

Garinder Singh Deo was taken into custody days after RCMP announced the arrests of 24 suspects linked to these crime groups, which investigators allege were involved in extortion, drug trafficking, kidnapping and widespread violence—including the 2023 murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in B.C.

At the time, police said 10 suspects remained at large, including seven in the U.S., two in India, and one in Europe—though it’s unclear if the latter was Deo.

“I can’t say with 100 per cent certainty he was the one the FBI was referring to as being in Europe, but I can confirm Mr. Deo is the fourth Canadian who was arrested and he was taken into custody in France on July 7,” an RCMP spokesperson said in an email to CTV News Friday.

The development comes days after the province filed a civil forfeiture claim against Deo, several relatives and two companies linked to him.

Suspect at centre of civil claim

In a claim filed Wednesday, the Director of Civil Forfeiture alleges Deo was linked to organized crime, international drug trafficking, money laundering and violence, and was a target of the RCMP-FBI investigation that led to Operation Hard Ball.

The claim seeks the forfeiture of three Lower Mainland properties tied to Deo and his family, including homes in West Vancouver and Surrey, which the province says were acquired using proceeds of unlawful activity.

Financial institutions reported approximately $2 million in suspicious transactions involving Deo, his relatives and associated companies between 2021 and 2025, according to the claim.

The filing alleges that on June 19, Deo sold his half-interest in a Surrey property assessed at nearly $3 million to his brother and sister-in-law for $1 and “natural love and affection,” the filing states.

The province alleges the transfer was made “to hinder or defraud” civil forfeiture efforts.

The allegations have not been proven in court.

4 British Columbians arrested total

Deo is not the only suspect with B.C. ties arrested as part of Operation Hard Ball.

While most of the arrests announced this week happened in the U.S., RCMP say the investigation also led to three arrests in B.C. and the execution of three search warrants in Metro Vancouver.

Those arrested in B.C. include Ravinder Singh Dhanda, of Vancouver, Jaskarn Baghr of Surrey and Gurtej Singh Smagh, of Creston.

The three are among 11 suspects facing charges linked to an alleged cross-border drug-smuggling operation that investigators say brought hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine from the U.S. into Canada each week.

The RCMP also announced charges against the alleged leaders of the crime networks—Lawrence Bishnoi, Ravinder Dhanda and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria—following what it described as two years of co-ordinated efforts by Canadian and American law enforcement.

Bishnoi, a gangster in prison in India, is charged with ordering Nijjar’s June 2023 assassination outside a Surrey gurdwara.

“This is a big moment for the RCMP and for public safety in Canada, the United States and around the world,” the RCMP Commissioner said in a statement Friday.

“It is a reminder of what can be accomplished when we work together with partners both in Canada and abroad, meeting criminals where they operate, targeting the leadership structures of these criminal groups, and ending their ability to terrorize and extort people.”

The joint investigation has also put a stop to “a significant flow of drugs and firearms into Canada,” the commissioner noted.

With files from the Associated Press.