Extortions threatening South Asian businesses with shootings and arsons are linked, police say

Last December, two part‐ ners at an Ontario car deal‐ ership received a threaten‐ ing WhatsApp call, de‐ manding they either give the caller hundreds of thousands of dollars, or face an attack on their business.

They were unsure of what to make of the call, but two days later, as one of the part‐ ners made his customary walk around the lot of their dealership just outside Toronto, they learned the message was no prank.

"I felt something under my shoes and then saw bullet shells. So I looked around. I saw more than 30, 40 bullet shells all over the place," said one of the part‐ ners. CBC News has agreed not to name the man be‐ cause he fears for his safety.

The night before, the deal‐ ership's security camera cap‐ tured three gunmen entering the parking lot and unleash‐ ing a flurry of bullets, hitting 11 vehicles.

WATCH | Gunmen spray car dealership with bullets:

They then received anoth‐ er call, again demanding money. They didn't pay and instead went to the police, who told them to take pre‐ cautionary measures, like changing their routine and possibly hiring security.

But a few weeks later, a man walked into another one of the three dealerships be‐ longing to the partners and put someone on speaker‐ phone. That person deman‐ ded $100,000 or else the dealership would be attacked like the other one was, but this time during the day.

This case is one of several brazen and violent attacks linked to extortion threats that have targeted South Asi‐ an businesses since October, leading to at least 14 arrests across the country.

CBC News has learned that at least five policing ju‐ risdictions in B.C., Alberta and Ontario are now investi‐ gating as many as 74 inciden‐ ts or cases related to this se‐ ries of extortion attempts. The RCMP confirmed to CBC News that there are connec‐ tions between attacks in dif‐ ferent provinces, and said that some are linked to orga‐ nized crime.

Attacks inspired copy‐ cats, police say

While police have few an‐ swers to explain the sudden increase, they suggest the ease with which these threats can be carried out have inspired a number of copycats.

In the Peel Region west of Toronto, police say there have been 35 extortion at‐ tempts targeting South Asian businesses since October.

"The number, the fre‐ quency and the cadence of these extortions is unprece‐ dented," said Peel Regional police Deputy Chief Marc An‐ drews. "We just haven't seen this before."

"It wasn't a trend or an is‐ sue that we had seen on any sort of consistent basis prior to late fall, early winter," he said. "Then we had a sudden surge of these incidents that ultimately included the use of violence as well as intimi‐ dation."

Edmonton Police have confirmed they are also in‐ vestigating more than 30 events related to extortion attempts and extortionlinked crimes targeting South Asian businesses in the same time frame, which include more than a dozen arsons and some drive-by shootings. One of the shootings took place at a home with children inside.

The issue has become so significant in the city that police held a town hall meet‐ ing to address the violence.

Meanwhile, RCMP in Sur‐ rey, B.C., are investigating at least five potential extortion related cases, which also in‐ cluded shootings at resi‐ dences, and police in Abbots‐ ford, B.C., are investigating a series of threatening letters sent to local businesses.

Last January in a letter to federal Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown and Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke noted their concerns about the recent escalation of ex‐ tortion threats against busi‐ ness owners.

"These incidents have in‐ stilled fear in our communi‐ ties and highlight the urgent need for a co-ordinated re‐ sponse involving multiple ju‐ risdictions," they wrote.

The following month, the RCMP announced it had es‐ tablished a national team to help co-ordinate investiga‐ tions and information shar‐ ing about extortion schemes targeting South Asian busi‐ nesses in B.C., Alberta and Ontario.

People taking 'precau‐ tionary measures'

"People do worry. People are taking precautionary mea‐ sures," said Brampton City Councillor Gurpartap Singh Toor.

"I know people that are travelling in armoured vehi‐ cles, that wear a bulletproof vest while going to work, have beefed up their security at their homes."

Andrews, the deputy chief of Peel police, said that based on their investigation, the attacks are focused on the South Asian community and are also being perpe‐ trated by members of that community.

"I could say that with a fair degree of confidence be‐ cause the languages and the accents that the victims are identifying are South Asian and all the arrests that we have made are of members of the South Asian commu‐ nity," Andrews said. "All the victims have been members of the South Asian commu‐ nity."

Links to organized crime

As for who may be behind the extortion threats and at‐ tacks, RCMP Supt. Adam MacIntosh told CBC News that there are "absolutely links" among some incidents across the provinces, as well as "links to organized crime."

According to MacIntosh, police are "looking at more than one potential organized crime group" in Canada, or possibly internationally. He is overseeing an investigative team related to ongoing ex‐ tortion attempts across the country.

While he says it's possible these attacks are linked to historical geopolitical issues related to India and the Khal‐ istan separatist movement, and that there could be inter‐ national connections, "it boils down to organized crime ex‐ torting people from money to profit for a criminal pur‐ pose."

As well, law enforcement officials say there are likely more incidents, but that some victims aren't coming forward and instead are sim‐ ply paying the extortion.

MacIntosh says police be‐ lieve there are people out‐ side these jurisdictions who have reported similar extor‐ tion attempts, as well as peo‐ ple within them who have not come forward.

LISTEN | How police in Peel Region are handling extortion attempts:

Police advise against paying extortion

Andrews, the deputy police chief for Peel Region, said that for those who do pay the extortion, there's a good chance the people extorting them will come back to the well more than once.

"I can completely under‐ stand the level of fear and concern," he said. "But by paying, you're not making the problem go away."

According to Andrews, these investigations are chal‐ lenging due to the use of the encoded WhatsApp messen‐ ger and the emergence of copycats looking to make a quick score

"It's such a relatively easy thing to do. It involves a phone call."