India cooperated in US-led transnational crime probe: Canadian official

Washington, July 8 (IANS) Indian authorities cooperated with the United States and other international law enforcement agencies during the multinational investigation that led to sweeping racketeering charges against three organised crime groups, a senior Canadian police official has said.

The acknowledgement came after US authorities announced charges against 37 defendants linked to transnational criminal organisations accused of murder, extortion, kidnappings and large-scale drug trafficking across North America and Europe. Twenty-four suspects have been arrested in the United States, Canada and Europe as part of ‘Operation Hard Ball’.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Deputy Commissioner Lisa Moreland said Indian authorities assisted investigators during the years-long probe.

“What I can say to you is in this investigation, as you noted from our US partners, that the Indian government was cooperating in this investigation. We work shoulder and shoulder with the FBI and other agencies to address this,” Moreland said in an interview following the announcement.

She added: “Through the course of this investigation, it would highlight that that’s where we’re striving for.”

The comments came as investigators from the United States, Canada and Europe unveiled indictments against three alleged criminal syndicates led by Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravinder Singh Dhanda.

Prosecutors allege the organisations operated across multiple countries and were involved in targeted killings, extortion, kidnappings, narcotics trafficking and firearms offences.

US prosecutors alleged that both Bishnoi and Bhagwanpuria directed criminal enterprises from jail cells in India using contraband communication devices, while members and associates allegedly carried out operations in the United States, Canada, Europe and elsewhere.

Moreland said the operation demonstrated the importance of international cooperation against increasingly sophisticated criminal organisations.

“I think that the key message here is that no one agency can tackle these types of organised crimes by theirself,” she said. “The partnerships that we’ve developed here in Canada… as well as our international footprint… collaborating everybody to tackle these.”

She added that organised crime had become “borderless” because of technology, making cooperation among international agencies essential.

“And I think the key message here is that no matter where you rest in the world, we will come after you with the tools that we have developed to tackle organised crime,” Moreland said.

The investigation involved the FBI, the RCMP, the Los Angeles Police Department, US Customs and Border Protection and law enforcement agencies in Spain and several other countries.

The Justice Department also said assistance came from the FBI’s Legal Attache offices in New Delhi, Ottawa, Madrid and Mexico City, among others.

–IANS

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