US charges 37 in a crackdown on India-based transnational organized crime
In 'Operation Hard Ball,' 24 were arrested across three countries; boss Lawrence Bishnoi ran the network from an Indian cell, giving orders on smuggled phones.
- Bishnoi, 33, directed murders, extortions, kidnappings and drug trafficking across several continents.
- The charges span three federal indictments; seven defendants were already jailed, two running syndicates from Indian prisons.
- Seized: about 1,000 kg of cocaine, 1 kg of heroin, $40,000 and twelve guns.
Why it mattersCommanding murders from inside a state prison cell is possible only in symbiosis with the apparatus meant to stop it.
US DOJ, C.D. California ↗ · Jul 8, 2026 · ✓ Checked