US prosecutors arrest 24 in major probe into India-based organised crime

US prosecutors announced the arrest of 24 individuals in a sweeping probe into India-based organised crime, in one of the most wide-ranging American law-enforcement actions targeting such networks to date. The BBC reported the arrests, which appear to be the result of a sustained federal investigation into criminal operations connected to India.

The sweep coincides with a separate US indictment charging the Lawrence Bishnoi gang with ordering the 2023 murder of Canadian Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, suggesting American authorities have been conducting parallel — and possibly linked — investigations into India-based criminal networks operating transnationally.

Details of the specific charges against the 24 individuals were not fully outlined in the initial reporting, but the scale of the arrests points to a coordinated federal operation involving multiple targets. Such large-scale sweeps typically follow months or years of surveillance, financial tracking, and witness cooperation.

The development places India in an uncomfortable spotlight at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is conducting high-profile diplomatic visits in Southeast Asia and preparing for a trip to Australia. New Delhi will likely face questions about the extent to which Indian criminal gangs have established international operational footprints — and what, if anything, Indian authorities knew or shared with their US counterparts.