Garinder Deo, B.C. gangster wanted for smuggling and extortion, arrested in France
The West Vancouver accused was taken into custody on July 7 and will face extradition to the U.S. to answer indictments tied to the FBI's Operation Hard Ball investigation into organized crime gangs.
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Garinder Deo, an accused B.C. drug smuggler and gangster from West Vancouver, has been arrested in France and will be extradited to the United States to face indictments, RCMP confirmed Friday.
Deo was taken into custody overseas on July 7. U.S. authorities allege he played a role in extortions and contract killings linked to the Bhagwanpuria gang and aided the organization by purchasing bulk quantities of cocaine and heroin for shipment from Southern California to the eastern U.S.
The arrest follows the FBI's announcement on Tuesday of Operation Hard Ball, an extensive investigation targeting the India-based Bishnoi gang, the Bhagwanpuria group, and the Dhanda drug trafficking organization allegedly headed by Ravinder Dhanda of Surrey. That operation led to the arrest of two dozen people.
Earlier this week, B.C.'s director of civil forfeiture filed a lawsuit seeking to seize three of Deo's properties totalling $11 million: 2030 Westdean Cres. in West Vancouver, and 12645-26A Ave. and 16087-59 Ave., both in Surrey. The suit alleges the properties should be forfeited as proceeds of criminal activity.
"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 stated.
