West Vancouver man arrested in France faces extradition for drug trafficking and extortion
Garinder Singh Deo, described by police as a gang kingpin, was taken into custody Tuesday as part of the FBI's Operation Hardball investigating organized crime across North America.
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A West Vancouver man police describe as a gang kingpin has been arrested in France and is awaiting extradition to the United States, the RCMP announced Friday.
Garinder Singh Deo, 40, was taken into custody on Tuesday as part of the FBI's Operation Hardball, a two-year joint investigation focusing on extortion and violence incidents that have chiefly targeted members of the South Asian diaspora across Metro Vancouver. Those incidents included the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent political and religious leader from India's Punjab state who was gunned down as he left a Sikh temple in Surrey in June 2023.
The same day Deo was arrested in France, the RCMP raided his West Vancouver home at 2030 Westdean Cres. with armoured emergency response team members. Other arrests were made worldwide on Tuesday following the investigation.
Deo is listed as a beneficial owner of the West Vancouver property and president and sole director of the numbered company that is the registered owner of the home. B.C.'s Civil Forfeiture Office has filed court documents asking that the $5.5 million home, as well as two other properties in Surrey where Deo is also the beneficial owner, be seized as proceeds of crime.
According to court documents, Deo bought the Westdean property through his numbered company in 2020 for $2.8 million, then rebuilt the home in 2023. Between July 2021 and December 2025, "suspicious transactions" by Deo, his wife, and other family members totalling $2 million were reported by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. These included "large or rapid movement of funds," financial activity not commensurate with his stated occupation, unknown sources of funds, large payments towards credit cards, luxury spending, and transactions consistent with "unlawful activities."
U.S. indictment documents list Deo — also known as "Doctor," "Rocket," and "Ritz Carlton" — among a group who conspired to traffic heroin and cocaine from "Mexico-based sources of supply for distribution to clients in Canada and the eastern United States." A total of 37 people have been charged in connection with the investigation.
