7 hours ago
Last Updated:July 16, 2025, 13:12 IST
According to top Indian intelligence sources, the operation confirms long-standing concerns about Canada's emergence as a hub for covert hybrid threats.
Central to the operation, as per DEA findings and Indian intelligence inputs, is Indo-Canadian national Opinder Singh Sian, alleged leader of the notorious Brothers Keepers gang.
A major international narco-terror network has been uncovered through a sting operation by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) at Vancouver Port, exposing a dangerous nexus involving Pakistani ISI handlers, Chinese chemical suppliers, and Latin American drug cartels. According to top Indian intelligence sources, the operation confirms long-standing concerns about Canada’s emergence as a hub for covert hybrid threats.
The DEA investigation, which began in 2022 and extended into 2023, recently led to the unsealing of an affidavit detailing the activities of a British Columbia-based fentanyl trafficking ring with global links. Central to the operation, as per DEA findings and Indian intelligence inputs, is Indo-Canadian national Opinder Singh Sian, alleged leader of the notorious Brothers Keepers gang. Intelligence officials describe the gang as a proxy for Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel in Canada, deeply entangled with Latin American cartels and Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-linked chemical suppliers.
Top Indian intelligence officials assert that Sian acts as a critical intermediary between ISI operatives in Lahore, Chinese dual-use chemical companies, and transnational drug syndicates. The gang’s activities, according to these sources, are not limited to narcotics but extend to the funding of Khalistani propaganda, arms smuggling, and sleeper cell recruitment in Punjab.
Indian agencies have also highlighted Vancouver’s transformation into a strategic node for narco-terrorism, with ISI and Chinese networks exploiting Canada’s permissive legal and political environment. Intelligence reports point to crypto-based hawala channels, NGO fronts, and encrypted communication routes via Dubai, Hong Kong, and Lahore that facilitate the laundering of fentanyl proceeds and the financing of radical elements in Punjab, Delhi, and Kashmir.
Additionally, Indian intelligence has linked the Irish-origin Kinahan cartel, operating from Dubai, to Hezbollah financing networks that are laundering Canadian drug money into Middle Eastern black markets. These assessments are reinforced by evidence gathered by the DEA, confirming the operational overlap between international crime syndicates and hostile state actors.
The coordinated use of synthetic opioids, chemical precursors, and financial laundering by this ISI–China–Cartel axis constitutes a “hybrid threat to national security," Indian intelligence warns. Agencies have so far identified over 40 Indo-Canadian operatives, including gurdwara-linked fundraisers and YouTube influencers, as part of the wider propaganda and logistical network.
The revelations mark a critical escalation in narco-terror threats and underscore the need for tighter international counterterror cooperation, intelligence officials say.
Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18
Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18
News world Canada-ISI-China Narco-Terror Nexus Exposed By DEA; Intel Sources Point To Global Threat | Exclusive
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