Metro Worker Among 24 Arrested in Transnational Crime Sweep Across US, Canada and Europe

Federal authorities arrested 24 people, including a SoCal Metro employee, in "Operation Hard Ball" targeting an India-based crime syndicate flooding communities with drugs and weapons.

SoCal Metro Employee Arrested in Federal Crackdown on India-Linked Crime Ring

Federal authorities announced Tuesday the arrest of 24 individuals — including a Southern California Metro worker — as part of a coordinated operation targeting a transnational organised crime syndicate, aol.com reports.

Justin Guzman, 26, was taken into custody at the El Monte Transit Center, where he is employed. Footage captured him being escorted from the Metro offices and placed into a federal vehicle. Shortly after, FBI and DEA agents searched an apartment in Highland Park where Guzman lives, as well as a second property in the same neighbourhood that officials say he has frequented. Agents were not seen leaving either location with any items.

Federal prosecutors allege Guzman is an associate of the Bhagwanpuria Organized Crime Ring, an India-based syndicate that operated in the Central District of California and beyond.

Eight of the 24 people arrested are from Southern California. Dubbed "Operation Hard Ball," Tuesday's operation was carried out simultaneously in the United States, Canada and Europe.

Among the alleged crimes attributed to the group is the 2023 assassination of a prominent Sikh political and religious figure, identified in court documents only as "H.S.N.," in Canada. Two of the syndicate's main leaders are already imprisoned in India.

Prosecutors say the organisations "flooded communities around the country with massive quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine" and "preyed in particular on communities in the United States and Canada with ties to India," routinely extorting individuals and their family members in India by threatening them with physical harm and death.

Additional charges include extortion, kidnapping, human smuggling, money laundering and murder.

Investigators seized approximately 1,000 kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of heroin, $40,000 in cash and a dozen firearms in connection with the investigation. A total of 23 search warrants were executed in the Sacramento area and 11 in the Los Angeles area, according to a federal press release.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)