Lawrence Bishnoi gang used Canada student visa route for crime: Report

The CBSA document, a “Tactical Guide” titled ‘The Bishnoi Gang: An Emerging Threat in Canada’, was circulated internally in December 2025 to assist immigration officers. Global News obtained a copy that had been made public through court proceedings. The agency noted the gang’s “growing operational presence in Canada” and its “demonstrated use of Canada’s immigration programs for criminal purposes.”

“Investigations increasingly identify Indian foreign nationals on study permits and work permits as participants in these organised criminal activities,” the CBSA’s Intelligence and Investigations Directorate stated, as quoted by Bell. “The sustained expansion of Bishnoi-linked extortions and the involvement of student permit and work permit holders raises significant concerns for CBSA operations.”

The report places these activities against a backdrop of sharp rises in criminal charges involving Indian study-permit holders.

Crimes by this group surged 8,800 per cent between 2016 and 2024, making India the top source country for foreign students charged with offences, according to the CBSA analysis cited by Global News. Between 2019 and 2023 alone, approximately 4,000 Indian citizens who entered on study permits faced 17,929 charges. Roughly one-third (4,920) were classified as serious or organised-crime related, and 97 per cent of those were deemed violent. The agency cautioned that the figures likely understate the problem because many crimes go unreported.

On extortion specifically, Canada’s overall rate declined 10 per cent in 2024, yet charges against Indian citizens rose 47 per cent that year. Investigators found recurring patterns: demands for large sums directed at South Asian Canadians, frequent references to Goldy Brar, and suspects who held student or work permits.

Canada designated the Bishnoi gang a terrorist entity in September 2025, giving authorities expanded powers to freeze assets, seize property and pursue related prosecutions. Lawrence Bishnoi, the gang’s leader, has been imprisoned in India for roughly a decade. Yet he is accused of directing operations remotely. Canadian and US authorities have linked elements of the network to violence against members of the Sikh diaspora, including allegations surrounding the 2023 killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Separate US indictments in 2026 charged Bishnoi and Brar in connection with that case as part of broader racketeering probes.

The revelations arrive amid a broader recalibration of Canada’s international student programme. The number of study permits issued to Indian nationals rose dramatically through the late 2010s and early 2020s, peaking before Ottawa introduced caps and tighter rules in response to housing pressures, fraud concerns and public safety issues. Indian students had become by far the largest cohort. Subsequent data show significant declines in new permits.