The BC RCMP is increasing police resources to address the ongoing extortion crisis in the Lower Mainland’s South Asian community – an issue it says is “not the work of a single individual or crime group.”
In Surrey alone in 2025, there have been 95 reports of extortion and 45 shots fired in extortion-related incidents by Nov. 12. The latest extortion-related shooting in the city was in the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 12, when a home in South Surrey was shot at for the second time in less than a week.
Abbotsford has also seen high numbers of extortion-related incidents. As of Sept. 23, there have been 40 reports of extortion in Abbotsford. In September, there were five shootings in that city, three of which were tied to extortion.
When asked how many extortion-related reports have been made in B.C. this year, B.C. RCMP media relations officer, Sgt. Vanessa Munn stated that, “While we recognize there is interest in specific data, providing precise statistics at this stage would not fully reflect the scope and complexity of the situation.”
The number of incidents, investigations, and extortion-related files is fluid due to the constantly evolving nature of the investigations and work with partner agencies, Munn added.
The additional resources from the RCMP include “but are not limited to” emergency response teams and police dog services, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia (CFSEU-BC), and BC Highway Patrol.
In September, a provincial task force was set up to tackle the surge in extortion-related crimes affecting B.C.’s South Asian community, with representatives from Lower Mainland RCMP detachments, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, Surrey Police Service, Abbotsford Police, Delta Police, the Canadian Border Services Agency and Metro Vancouver Transit Police.
“Given the scope and complexity of extortion-related crime, these additional resources are being deployed to support investigations and suppress extortion-related criminal activity in our province,” noted a BC RCMP news release Thursday (Nov. 13).
The focus of the additional resources will be on “prevention, deterrence and intelligence gathering” for ongoing investigations.
The BC RCMP would not expand when asked what the additional resources were beyond those listed above.
“The deployment of these resources is strategic and intelligence-led through coordinated efforts with the Provincial Extortion Task Force, with the goal of supporting communities and the ongoing work of local police,” said Assistant Commissioner John Brewer, criminal operations oficer for the BC RCMP. “The additional personnel will be doing targeted proactive patrols, police stops, vehicle interdictions and intelligence gathering. The support from these additional resources will not be limited to any one city or area.”
The City of Surrey also announced on Sept. 15 a $250,000 reward for information leading to convictions in the Surrey extortion cases.
At an unrelated press conference on Thursday (Nov. 13), Premier David Eby said he was briefed by the heads of the extortion task force alongside B.C. Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger late Wednesday night.
“I know there is a huge level of anxiety in communities south of the Fraser around this,” Eby said, in answer to a question from Langley Advance Times reporter Matthew Claxton. “The brazen nature of these shootings and the desperate need for accountability and for action to ensure safety for all members of the community is crucial.”
Eby said “an impressive amount of work is being done” by the task force but that it needs to do a better job at communicating its work.
“There is a need for a task force to communicate to the community about what they are working on, the people and technology that they are bringing to bear on this. Reassure people that this is being taken seriously,” Eby said.
He commended the Canada Border Services Agency for its investigative work that led to three people being removed from Canada who were connected to the extortion crisis and the additional investigations into 78 foreign nationals.
Eby assured British Columbians that tackling the extortion crisis is a “key priority.”
“These attacks cut at something that is fundamental to our communities, which is a sense of safety, the ability to be in business, the ability to feel comfortable in your own home, and so for those reasons, we will ensure that all resources are available,” Eby said.
He said the province will ensure that “all resources” are available to the task force.
When asked if police should be providing 24/7 protection for members of the South Asian community who have been targeted more than once, Eby said, “The decisions about allocating police resources lie with the task force and its senior leadership.”
“My expectation and the expectation of all British Columbians, that it’s not different from those who are leading and running the task force, is that people have to be safe. I understand that they are using a variety of tactics to ensure that that’s the case,” Eby said. “I encourage them to share what they can with the community about steps they can take to ensure that people who are being targeted are safe.”
John Rustad, leader of the Conservative Party of BC, was quick to criticize Eby and the BC NDP government after last night’s South Surrey shooting.
“What happened in South Surrey last night, a home shot up twice in just five days because of an extortion network operating openly in our communities, confirms what British Columbians already know: this province has lost control of public safety, and innocent families are paying the price,” Rustad said in a statement on X. “”We need real consequences, not catch-and-release, not excuses, not another round of failed experiments by a government that refuses to get tough when it counts. Real sentencing. Real enforcement. Real accountability.”
Conservative MLAs Brent Chapman of Surrey South and Harman Bhangu of Langley-Abbotsford also took to X to express similar sentiments.