Indian-origin gangster 'Thanos' with ISI, China links busted by DEA in drug cartel crackdown

The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has reportedly busted an international drug trafficking racket being run out of British Columbia, and has arrested its mastermind—Indo-Canadian gangster Opinder Singh Sian aka 'Thanos'.

According to a report by The Times of India, the investigation has exposed a sprawling criminal network trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine, with operational ties to Pakistan's ISI and chemical suppliers connected to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.

Sian, a senior member of the ISI-backed 'Brothers Keepers' gang, was arrested in Arizona on June 27, the report said.

Thanos' organization, which recruits foot soldiers from Punjab, has a violent history of dealing in cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine, alongside arms trafficking, murder, and extortion. The gang has also lent its support to the Khalistan cause, participating in rallies that commemorated notorious figures like Air India bombing mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar.

Sian himself is a hardened criminal in Canada's underworld, having survived two assassination attempts in 2008 and 2011, the report said.

The DEA investigation, which kicked off in 2022 following a tip from Turkish intelligence, culminated in a sophisticated undercover operation. According to recently unsealed court documents, the DEA deployed a confidential source known as "Queen" to infiltrate Sian's network.

The operation revealed Sian's direct role as a logistical mastermind. In 2023, he arranged a meeting in Vancouver between "Queen" and a Chinese cartel operative named Peter Peng Zhou. Zhou, who ran a trucking company, revealed he could receive fentanyl precursor chemicals from China and "send 100 kilos of chemicals per month to Los Angeles" using his business as cover.

Acting on this intelligence, the DEA monitored communications between Sian and "Queen" on an encrypted chat application named Threema. Specifically, Sian orchestrated four separate drops of methamphetamine, totaling over 500 pounds, in southern California, before the DEA moved in and arrested him.

While Sian has been arrested, the investigation is still under way, with sleuths trying to expose the criminal network's spread across geographies, which spans from Turkey to Dubai.

The DEA has also said that Sian is linked to the notorious Kinahan crime family, which has alleged ties to the Hezbollah as well.