B.C. extortion task force sees 7 people charged, 111 facing immigration investigations

6 months ago 186

Mounties in B.C. will hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon to provide a four-month update on their provincial extortion task force as the crime continues to hit Lower Mainland cities.

Police task force provides update as Surrey records 35th case of suspected extortion this year

Chad Pawson · CBC News

· Posted: Jan 20, 2026 3:40 PM EST | Last Updated: 17 minutes ago

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B.C. RCMP to provide update on extortion task force efforts

As reported extortion attempts continue in B.C., police are speaking with media to provide an update on work being done to counter the crime.

Mounties in B.C. will hold a news conference Tuesday afternoon to provide a four-month update on their provincial extortion task force as the crime continues to hit Lower Mainland cities.

The briefing comes just hours after Surrey police reported their 35th suspected extortion case of the year, after a business was shot at early Tuesday.

The city — B.C’s second largest by population — had a total of 132 extortion attempts, 49 of them involving shootings, in 2025, according to the Surrey Police Service.

The RCMP news conference will begin at 1 p.m. PT at B.C. RCMP divisional headquarters on Green Timbers Way in Surrey.

CBC News will carry it live.

Cases of extortion in B.C. have mostly targeted South Asian communities, with people receiving threats and demands for money. Surrey, Delta and Abbotsford have been disproportionately affected.

The provincial task force was formed in mid-September and brings together RCMP, municipal police agencies, transit police and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to work collaboratively on the cases.

It doesn't automatically get involved with every suspected case of extortion in B.C., with municipal forces handling some on their own.

32 files, 7 charged, 111 possibly inadmissible to Canada

Since Sept. 17, 2025, the task force has worked on 32 files from across the Lower Mainland, according to an RCMP news release Tuesday.

They have also obtained 100 judicial authorizations, such as search warrants, seen charges approved for seven people, and worked with the CBSA to investigate 111 foreign nationals who may be inadmissible to Canada for Immigration and Refugee Protection Act related offences, RCMP said.

So far, nine of those people have been removed from Canada, police said.

The release said the task force also has more than 1,000 exhibits and hundreds of hours of CCTV footage.

“Please know that we are moving forward with each investigation to ensure that those who are responsible for these acts are held accountable,” said Assistant Commissioner John Brewer.