Extortion-related crime is decreasing in British Columbia, and significant progress has been made in dealing with the perpetrators – but law enforcement agencies will continue to keep the pressure on.
That was the message shared at a provincial roundtable on extortion on Tuesday (May 12), held virtually by the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General and hosted by Paul Dadwal, chair of the community advisory goup on extortion – a group that was set up in February to help bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement agencies working to combat B.C.’s extortion crisis.
Dadwal said his group has had more than 60 briefings in three months with police forces, the CBSA, FINTRAC (Canada’s national financial intelligence unit), business associations and victims’ families, among others.
“To the community, to victims: your pain is real. We understand you’re hurting. We know some of you have relocated. We know some of your lives have been affected and kids have been affected. That doesn’t represent our peaceful and sovereign Canada that we will get back,” Dadwal said.
Dwayne McDonald, deputy commissioner of the BC RCMP and head of the B.C. Extortion Task Force, said the decrease that’s being seen in extortion-related crime in B.C. is due to the coordinated efforts on all the partners involved, including police forces and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
He said there has been “significant success” in terms of charges laid, removal of suspects and other suspects leaving the province of their own volition, as well as an increase in cooperation from victims and the community at large.
“I think it’s very important to recognize that a sustained, prolonged effort, coordinated across all police agencies, not only municipal, provincial, federal, but if required, international, is going to be necessary continue to see the success that we’ve seen,” he said.
McDonald said extortion involves suspects that are mobile and organized crime groups that operate across provincial and national borders.
“This extortion crime is replicable and can be copycatted anywhere across the country,” he said. “We have guns. We have vehicles that move interprovincially. We have suspects for hire. We have encryption, … we have things like the dark web. These are all the trends that we’re seeing, not only in British Columbia, but nationally.”
Nina Patel, regional director for the CBSA Pacific Region, said that, as of May 7, the CBSA has opened more than 446 immigration investigations into foreign nationals that are suspected to be linked to extortion. To date, the CBSA has issued 118 removal orders and removed 55 people from Canada; in the Pacific Region, there have been 52 removal orders issued and 33 people removed.
Police agencies across the country will be meeting in Edmonton on Friday (May 15) to continue their joint efforts to tackle extortion-related crimes.
The roundtable also delivered a message to the community about their role in combating extortion.
Abbotsford Police Chief Colin Watson stressed: “Plain and simple, our recommendation is to not pay extortionists. Part of the reason why these crime types are successful is that they’re profitable.”
Though paying up front may look like the quickest way to deal with an extortion threat and ensure the safety of your family or business, Watson said, the reality is one extortion demand will often be followed by another – and the extortionists will also move on to other victims.
“The more individuals in the community that are paying extortionists, the more likely that this is going to continue,” he said. “So we certainly encourage folks not to do that, not to pay the extra. Just contact us right away. Work with us on our overall response. Work with us on a safety plan for you and your family, and we will do our very best as we’ve done right from the beginning.”
The roundtable also included Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski, Delta Police Chief Harj Sidhu, and community advisory group member Baltej Singh Dhillon, who provided Punjabi language information and translation.