New Delhi: Punjab resident Amritpal Singh, “most wanted” by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for his alleged involvement in an international drug trafficking network led by Ravinder Dhanda operating across North America, “died in a road accident in Jalandhar last year”, his father has told ThePrint.
Harwinder Singh, a farmer who owns a dhaba in Jalandhar’s Mowai village, said his son Amritpal met with the accident in the village itself on 19 February, 2025, after he had returned from the US to stay home for some time.
“Amritpal went to the US to find work. Just like many other young boys and girls from the village, he eventually settled down there, and drove trucks for a living,” he added.
“Last year, in January, Amritpal returned to Jalandhar to stay home for some time… he had not planned his return. On 19 February, he was going back from the field when he met with a road accident,” Harwinder told ThePrint Thursday.
According to him, he was not aware of Amritpal’s name in the FBI list. “I only got to know through media reports,” he said.
The FBI Tuesday added Amritpal Singh’s name to its Most Wanted list, stating on X that he was involved in a “criminal organization known as The Ravinder Dhanda Organized Crime Group”.
“The group is based out of Vancouver, Canada, and allegedly smuggled bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine for drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico,” it said.
Amritpal Singh is #wanted by the #FBI for his alleged involvement in a transnational criminal organization known as The Ravinder Dhanda Organized Crime Group. The group is based out of Vancouver, Canada, and allegedly smuggled bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine for… pic.twitter.com/urM4RrGey2
— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) July 28, 2026
On 23 June, a federal arrest warrant was also issued against Amritpal by a court in Los Angeles, after he was charged with “conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances”.
On its website, the FBI has identified Amritpal as an Indian national born on 7 January, 1996, along with a photograph taken in 2024.
According to the US probe agency, Amritpal operated as a logistical hand for the Dhanda syndicate and was involved in concealing and transporting cocaine and methamphetamine on board long-haul semi-trucks carrying legitimate goods for purposes of transportation to the US-Canada border.
The FBI indictment states that members of the Dhanda group, along with Amritpal and others, conspired with each other to knowingly and intentionally distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. This includes at least 5 kg of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of cocaine, and at least 50 gm of methamphetamine or meth.
The indictment further claims that on or about 18 September, 2023, in San Bernadino County, within the Central District of California, defendants Dhanda, Prince Pal, Jaspreet, and Amritpal, were found to be “each aiding and abetting the others, knowingly and intentionally possessed with intent to distribute” controlled substances.
Dhanda Organised Crime Group
Earlier this month, law enforcement agencies in the US, Canada and Europe arrested 24 people, and unsealed indictments against members of three India-based transnational organised crime syndicates led by gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravinder Singh Dhanda as part of Operation Hard Ball.
Amritpal is alleged to be part of the larger crime syndicate of Ravinder Dhanda, 57, alias Randy, Rolex, and John Wick of Vancouver, Canada; Jaskarn Baghri, 50, alias Baba, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada; and Gurtej Singh Smagh, 43, alias Simba, of Creston, British Columbia, Canada.
Eight other defendants were charged in an eight-count indictment on 23 June, alleging they transported, smuggled, and distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and meth each week from the US into Canada.
According to the indictment, Dhanda operated a drug distribution network that provided international smuggling services for bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) in the US, Canada, and Mexico. He negotiated transportation rates and logistics with these DTOs and subcontracted the storage and transportation of these drugs.
“The cocaine and methamphetamine were concealed and transported on long-haul semi-trucks from the greater Los Angeles area—including Los Angeles, West Covina, Ontario, Fontana and Perris—to the US-Canada border. Sometimes, farm trucks from working farms were used to hide the narcotics en route to Canada,” the indictment states.
It specifically alleges the shipment of 430 kg of cocaine from July 2023 to November 2024.
The indictment charges one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export controlled substances, one count of operating a continuing criminal enterprise, and five counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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