RCMP confirmed Friday that Garinder Deo was taken into custody overseas on July 7 and will be returned to the U.S. to face indictments linked to the FBI’s Operation Hard Ball.
Article content
B.C. gangster Garinder Deo has been arrested in France and will be extradited to the U.S.
Article content
RCMP confirmed Friday that the accused drug smuggler from West Vancouver was taken into custody overseas on July 7 and will be returned to the U.S. to face indictments linked to the FBI’s Operation Hard Ball.
Article content
Article content
U.S. authorities had been searching for Deo, alleging he played a role in a number of extortions and contract killings linked to the Bhagwanpuria gang. He is also charged in California with aiding the gang “by purchasing bulk quantities of cocaine and heroin that were to be shipped from Southern California to the eastern U.S.
Article content
Story continues below
Article content
The arrest follows the FBI’s announcement Tuesday that two dozen people were arrested as part of Operation Hard Ball. The extensive investigation zeroed in on the notorious India-based Bishnoi gang, the Bhagwanpuria group and the Dhanda drug trafficking organization, allegedly headed by Ravinder Dhanda of Surrey.
Article content
Sunrise
Article content
Earlier in the week, B.C.’s director of civil forfeiture had filed a lawsuit against Deo, seeking to seize three of his properties totalling $11 million: 2030 Westdean Cres. in West Vancouver, and 12645-26A Ave. and 16087-59 Ave., both in Surrey. The suit says the properties should be forfeited as proceeds of criminal activity.
Article content
“Deo has been associated with high-level organized crime, organized criminal gangs in the Greater Vancouver area, as well as international criminal syndicates, drug trafficking, importation or exportation, money laundering, trafficking in firearms and violence and enriching international criminal organizations and terrorist groups,” the lawsuit said.
Article content
For more on this story, read Kim Bolan’s coverage:
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
