South Asians charged in large-scale international drug trafficking network
19 April 2021

INVESTIGATORS with the York Regional Police Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Peel Regional Police, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, dismantled a large-scale international drug trafficking network that extended to Western Canada, the United States and India.

In May 2020, officers began an investigation, dubbed Project Cheetah, into a robust network involved in importing large quantities of cocaine, ketamine, heroin and opium into Canada. The drugs were then distributed across the country through a sophisticated system run by the traffickers.

On Thursday April 8, 2021, police in Ontario, British Columbia and California executed more than 50 search warrants, resulting in 33 people charged with more than 130 criminal offences.

Officers seized approximately $2.3 million worth of drugs including: Ten kilograms of cocaine, eight kilograms of ketamine, three kilograms of heroin and 2.5 kilograms of opium. Investigators also seized 48 firearms and $730,000 in Canadian currency.


The Toronto Star listed the following:

Parshotem Malhi, 54, of Brampton, is charged with trafficking methamphetamine, heroin (six counts) and possession for the purpose of trafficking of heroin, methamphetamine, possession of property obtained by crime (six counts) and possession of identity documents.

Rupinder Dhillon, 37, of Brampton, is charged with possession of methamphetamine and heroin for trafficking.

Sanveer Singh, 25, of Brampton, is charged with failure to comply with an order and possession of a controlled substance.

Haripal Nagra, 45, of Brampton, is charged with heroin trafficking and possession of opium for the purpose of trafficking.

Hassam Syed, 30, of Brampton, is charged with heroin trafficking and possession of heroin and methamphetamine

Pritpal Singh, 56, of Brampton, is charged with heroin trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking of heroin, cocaine and opium, possession of property obtained by crime (three counts) and possession of counterfeit money.

Harkiran Singh, 33, of Brampton, is charged with possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.


Lakhpreet Brar, 29, of Brampton, is charged with trafficking heroin, ketamine (three counts), opium (three counts), conspiracy to traffic ketamine, opium and heroin and possession of property obtained by crime (four counts).

Didy Adansi, 52, of Toronto, is charged with trafficking ketamine (two counts), conspiracy to traffick ketamine, possession of methamphetamine and possession of the proceeds of crime.

Sarbjit Singh, 43, of Woodstock, is charged with trafficking ketamine (three counts) conspiracy to traffic ketamine and possession of property obtained by crime.

Balwinder Dhaliwal, 60, of Brampton, is charged with trafficking cocaine (two counts) and possession of property obtained by crime (two counts) and conspiracy to traffic cocaine.

Rupinder Dhaliwal, 39, of Toronto, is charged with trafficking heroin (two counts), opium and ketamine, possession of property obtained by crime, possession for the purpose of trafficking of heroin, possession of methamphetamine and ketamine, failure to comply with recognizance and conspiracy to traffic ketamine.


Ranjit Singh, 40, of Toronto, is charged with failure to comply with a release order and probation, possession of heroin and possession of ketamine for the purpose of trafficking.

Sukhmanpreet Singh, 23, of Brampton, is charged with heroin possession.

Rupinder Sharma, 25, of Vaughan, is charged with heroin and methamphetamine possession.

Prabhsimaran Kaur, 25, of Vaughan, is charged with possession of heroin.

Khushal Bhinder, 36, of Brampton, is charged with trafficking cocaine, conspiracy to traffic cocaine, possession for the purpose of trafficking of cocaine and opium and possession of property obtained by crime.

Prabhjeet Mundian, 34, of Brampton, is charged with possession of cocaine and opium for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.

Vansh Arora, 24, of Brampton, is charged with trafficking cocaine, conspiracy to traffic cocaine, possession of cocaine and opium for the purpose of trafficking and careless storage of ammunition.

Simranjeet Narang, 28, of Brampton, is charged with trafficking opium and cocaine (two counts), conspiracy to traffic opium and cocaine and possession of property obtained by crime (three counts).


Harjinder Jhaj, 38, of Caledon, is charged with trafficking ketamine and conspiracy to traffic ketamine and possession of property obtained by crime (two counts).

Gaganpreet Gill, 28, of Brampton is charged with cocaine trafficking.

Sukjit Dhaliwal, 47, of Brampton, is charged with possession of heroin for the purpose of trafficking and possession of methamphetamine and oxycodone.

Imran Khan, 33, of Toronto, is charged with trafficking ketamine and possession of property obtained by crime.

Chinedu Ajoku, 51, of Brampton, is charged with heroin trafficking.

Harjot Singh, 31, of Brampton, is charged with heroin trafficking (two counts) and methamphetamine trafficking.

Sukhjit Dhugga, 35, of Brampton, is charged with trafficking ketamine, conspiracy to traffic ketamine, possession of ketamine for the purpose of trafficking and possession of property obtained by crime.

Gurbinder Sooch, 41, of no fixed address, is charged with trafficking ketamine (five counts), possession of property obtained by crime (four counts), conspiracy to traffic ketamine, trafficking opium, trafficking heroin (two counts), conspiracy to import heroin and fail to comply with a release order.

Punjabi smugglers among top 3 notorious gangs in Canada

From drug trafficking to gang wars, extortion and money laundering, Punjabi smugglers figure among top three notorious gangs in Canada behind the biker gangs and Vietnamese groups.

The Punjabi gangs have hogged international limelight these days with the Canada police claiming on Monday that they have broken a major drug cartel run mainly by Punjabis. Out of 33 persons charged for the possession of drugs and firearms besides huge currency and a gold-plated car, nearly 25 were of Punjabi origin.

Though this is the biggest operation concerning the Punjabi community, reports reveal a number of smugglers were arrested earlier also, though never in such large numbers. Notably, Punjabi gangs are formed on clan basis. Gangs of Johals, Dhak-Duhre, Sanghera, Malhi-Buttar, and the Kangs feature regularly in drug seizures, gang wars and other criminal activities. One report from Canada said about 21 per cent of gangsters died in gang-wars or police operations since 2006 were of Punjabi region.

Their activities are of high concern back home in Punjab as some of the gangs have been linked to either arrested or wanted smugglers. The main being the gangs of Devinder Dev, Kamaljit Chauhan and Amarinder Singh Chhina.

The Punjab Police and NCB officials said Dev even had links with the Jagdish Bhola gang. These persons had used Punjab as the base to transport drugs to Canada, the USA and Australia through the Golden Crescent of drugs network featuring Pakistan and Afghanistan. In December 2017, a couple identified as Gurminder Singh Toor and his wife Kirandeep Kaur was caught with little short of 100 kg of heroin they were smuggling into Canada. In September 2018, another Punjabi Inderjit Bhinder was caught with 41 kg of heroin on the US-Canada border.

“Punjabi smugglers in Canada and Punjab have a robust network. They indulge in to and fro of drugs. While Canadian gangs are interested in cheap ‘import’ of heroin from Afghanistan via Pakistan and Punjab, they ‘export’ refined drugs besides cocaine and ICE to Punjab,” said a police official.

He said the Punjab Police was hoping to get the details of local links of the smugglers arrested in Canada so that their network in Punjab could be checked.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/m.tribu...g-top-3-notorious-gangs-in-canada-242358

Bikers, Vietnamese and Punjabi top 3 in Canada ????????

I think this is the top 3 in BC.

In Quebec for instance, Sicilians, Haitians and Lebanese seem to be much more influential in organized crime than Vietnamese or Punjabis are.
In Ontario on the other hand I hear more about Calabrian, Chinese, Jamaican, Somali and Tamil OC and gang activity - even though this Brampton, ON arrest seems to be a bit of an exception.
The prairie provinces have a higher rate of Native/First Nations OC.

Bikers of course are all over Canada and a major OC force in Quebec, BC and Ontario. Overall they're probably the most powerful OC group when you take Canada in general.

I find it a bit strange that Punjabis are so embroiled in OC activity in BC and Brampton. Over here in Europe, Punjabis are very peaceful and they just open up night shops lol

Yeah that is what I think also.
In Quebec , the punjabi are really not a factor in thr criminal world.
BC always been different than the other provinces. Many of the gangsters come from good income families.

Brampton is referred to as ‘little India 🇮🇳‘ , the Canadian Comic Russel Peters, I think is from there.

Here's a story about the california side of the operation.

Feds bust international drug ring in Sacramento — with help from an undercover Canadian cop
BY SAM STANTON
APRIL 09, 2021 10:10 AM, UPDATED APRIL 09, 2021 02:36 PM
Play VideoDuration 1:54FBI, DEA produce documentary warning teens about heroin


Federal agents in Sacramento working with a Canadian undercover agent say they have broken up an international drug trafficking operation run out of suburban homes in Davis, Sacramento and Roseville and have arrested three suspects.

Three men were booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail on Thursday and appeared by Zoom in federal court Friday afternoon, where they were ordered to remain in custody pending detention hearings next week.

The arrests follow a six-month investigation that court records say included undercover drug buys in Canada and the United States, cellphone surveillance and encrypted communications conducted in Punjabi.

Parampreet Singh, 55; Ranvir Singh, 38; and Amandeep Singh Multani, 33, are charged in a federal criminal complaint with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, heroin, opium and ketamine, which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency describes as a “short-acting anesthetic with hallucinogenic effects” that is “sometimes used to facilitate sexual assault crimes.”

They also face a count of distribution of a substance containing cocaine.



All three are being held without bail.

The three men “have offered to supply up to hundreds of kilograms of cocaine, heroin, opium, and ketamine at a time, in both Canada and the United States,” according to an affidavit filed in court by U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Joshua Matas. “They have also stated that they have drug trafficking connections to Mexico, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Germany, in addition to the United States and Canada.”

American DEA agents based in Ottawa began investigating the operation in June 2020, and contacted agents in the Sacramento area in October, court records say.

The probe included the use of an undercover officer from the York Regional Police department, near Toronto, who arranged for undercover buys alternately communicating in Punjabi, Spanish and English, court records say.

The agent coordinated through cellphones, WhatsApp and Botim, an encrypted application that Parampreet Singh advised the undercover agent to use, court records say.


“Based on my training and experience, I believe Singh’s consistent use of encrypted apps shows his level of expertise in his attempts to avoid detection of his drug-related conversations by law enforcement,” Matas wrote.

The investigation ultimately led to drug purchases in Canada and in Sacramento, where an undercover agent picked up a green plastic bag containing cocaine from Ranvir Singh and Multani in the parking lot of the Cheesecake Factory on Arden Way, court records say.

Agents eventually obtained search warrants for Parampreet Singh’s home on Goshawk Street in Davis, as well as a Chevron mini-mart he operates on Harbor Boulevard in West Sacramento, court records say.

Other warrants were issued for a Natomas Park home on Baines Avenue owned by Ranvir Singh, a Stansfield Drive home in Roseville associated with Multani and five vehicles, including a Hummer SUV and an Audi sedan registered to Parampreet Singh and a Mercedes-Benz SUV driven by Ranvir Singh, court records say.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article250552024.html