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Who is Opinder Singh, Indian-Canadian gangster linked to ISI, Hezbollah, Sinaloa cartel, and China?
The 29-page memo filed by the DEA in federal court said investigations had been carried out in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Australia, Hong Kong, Dubai and Tukey. AP
The United States has long complained about Chinese-made fentanyl being smuggled into the country.
Now, authorities in the US have busted a fentanyl drug ring with links to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and arrested an Indian-Canadian gangster.
The gangster, identified as Opinder Singh Sian, was arrested in Nevada last month.
Sian, 37, has links to a notorious Irish drug gang.
But who is Sian? And what happened?
Let's take a closer look
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Who is Sian?
Sian is a major player in the international fentanyl smuggling ring.
Sian, is said to have links to the Brothers Keeper gang.
The group is said to traffic cocaine, MDMA, heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
It has also been accused of arms trafficking, murder, extortion and armed robbery.
This gang, which is backed by the ISI, has many operatives in India.
Indian officials told News18 Sian was a crucial go-between for the ISI and criminals in China.
These groups make use of Canada's 'permissive legal and political environment' to traffic synthetic opioids, they added.
The BK gang is said to be supportive of the pro-Khalistani movement.
It also has ties to the Hells Angels and the Wolfpack gang — both of which are well-known around the world.
Opinder Singh Sian is said to be a major player in the international fentanyl smuggling ring. Image courtesy: X
Sian is based in Canada's Vancouver and is extremely well-known in the city's organised crime circles.
He goes by several aliases including Opie, Thanos and Cain.
Sian in 2007 was convicted for careless use of a firearm and obstruction of a peace officer.
His rise in the Canadian criminal underworld began in 2008.
This came after he survived a shooting that left his friend Gurpreet Sidhu dead.
However, Sian was left seriously injured in the aftermath of the incident.
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Sian survived yet another shooting in 2011.
For the next few years he was frequently stopped by the police in the company of other gangsters.
Sian is said to have told a confidential informant that he has ties to 'Irish organised crime, specifically the Kinahan family, Italian organised crime and other Canadian organised crime groups.'
The Kinahan gang is a notorious Irish outfit that originated in Dublin during the 1990s.
However, it is now based in Dubai.
The Kinahan gang has ties to Mexico's infamous Sinaloa Cartel as well as Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah.
Sian a decade ago tried to get his purported wife into Canada but was denied by authorities, who ruled it a 'sham marriage'.
So, what explains Sian's rise in the crime world?
Mike Porteous, a retired Vancouver police superintendent, told Vancouver Sun that any gangster 'that has the attributes to actually be successful — intelligence, relationship-building, connections … they can rise'.
'Those kinds of people that build those relationships tend to rise within the hierarchy because they have the skill sets to do the bidding of making money in the drug world.'
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What happened?
Sian was arrested in Arizona last month by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The agency has conducted a wide-ranging, years-long probe into Sian.
The 29-page memo filed by the DEA in federal court said investigations had been done in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Australia, Hong Kong, Dubai and Tukey.
The probe into Sian began in 2022 after the DEA conducted a preliminary probe on the basis of a tip-off from Turkish intelligence.
Prosecutors have accused Sian of being at the center of a vast conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and meth.
Sian was involved in a conspiracy to import 'precursor chemicals from China and export narcotics through the port of Los Angeles to Australia', the DEA affidavit claimed.
Sian is also alleged to have been purchasing the chemicals from China and selling them directly to the Mexican cartels.
The DEA has claimed that Sian was backed by Turkish trafficker Ibrahim Ozcelik.
'Sian again stated that he worked with a known drug kingpin, based out of Turkey', the DEA source has claimed.
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The documents revealed that Sian had set up a meeting between a US confidential informant known as 'Queen' and Peter Peng Zhou from a Chinese cartel in Vancouver in 2023.
US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Zhou claimed he could get the chemicals from China and send them directly to Los Angeles.
'Vancouver is the centre of gravity for hybrid warfare for transnational organised crime in North America,' Scott McGregor, a former military intelligence operator, was quoted as saying by Global News. 'One of my colleagues in DC mentioned that it was a cross between Dubai and Miami.'
Sian is said to have moved over 200 kilos of meth before being arrested by the DEA.
A federal judge has ordered Sian to be held in custody pending his transfer to California.
Sian is set to appear in court on July 21.
While several persons of interest have been identified, no one has yet been charged.
With inputs from agencies
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