Reports of extortion threats to South Asian community nearly double in 1 month: Surrey police

Police in Surrey say there has been a significant spike in reported extortion threats targetting the South Asian community in the last month.

The Surrey Police Service (SPS) tells CityNews there have now been 19 reported cases in 2025 — up from the 10 reported as of June 13.

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Local business leader Jay Minhas says the community continues to feel on edge, despite the RCMP announcing a pair of arrests related to extortion threats.

“It’s a very, very serious issue. And the community is very uncomfortable. You know, the business community pays big taxes, so they want the security, and it should happen very quickly,” said Minhas.

On Thursday, two suspects were arrested for careless discharge of a firearm and arson in relation to incidents last year in Surrey.

In the afternoon, Mounties held a media conference outside the BC RCMP Divisional Headquarters in Surrey, but were not forthcoming with additional details.

Chief Supt. Duncan Pound says investigations take time, and the announcement Thursday served largely to reassure the community and encourage victims to continue reporting the threats.

Minhas says Thursday’s announcement was vague, leaving the community with more questions than answers.

“The entire community is very disappointed. We thought it’s going to be big news, that somebody will get charged,” said Minhas.

Former West Vancouver Police Chief and BC Solicitor General and current Richmond City Coun. Kash Heed says the arrest announcement was purely “political.”

“It’s unfortunate, because the approach they’re taking now is certainly not going to make up for some of that lost time in trying to get in front of this particular problem,” said Heed.

He says other Canadian jurisdictions have had success by applying “a sufficient amount of resources to a task force on the ground,” leading to arrests.

Last month, the SPS formed a special investigative team to look into extortion threats after receiving the original 10 reports.

Heed said, “They’re not doing enough.”

“You have a significant amount of the people that are being extorted actually paying their extortions. They found it difficult to report the incidents to law enforcement. Previously, I know several people that tried, on several occasions, to actually report it, and they were kind of turned away. They weren’t given the availability of the police to the extent they should have. There should have been a lot more attention applied to this originally. Yes, this is a step in the right direction. Is it enough? No, it’s not enough.”

Since then, the B.C. government announced launching a public awareness campaign to address the threats.

The campaign, coming at a cost of $100,000, is set to share information about recognizing and reporting extortion threats, which the government believes will help individuals, business owners, and families stay safe and informed.

The announcement of the campaign comes after Premier David Eby said he would write to Prime Minister Mark Carney to ask that the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang be given the terrorist designation “to enable police to be able to use the necessary tools to investigate.”

The RCMP previously stated that it has linked the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to extortion and other crimes against South Asian community members in Alberta, Ontario, and B.C.

Heed is also critical of Eby’s request, calling it a “knee-jerk reaction.” He says the terrorist label will only instill fear.

“When you start to label him a terrorist organization, actually, you’ve just amplified the threat level to the community. With respect to these extortions, we have a lot of people that are just thugs, that are copycats,” said Heed.

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says she has also written to Carney with the same request to protect her city.

She says she’s also asked provincial Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Garry Begg to establish a public phone line for tips.

“Sadly, not everybody is calling police when they get these issues, but we need something so that people can start to feel confident… I think we all have to question, why are people in our city, in our province, in our country afraid to call the authorities? That’s a big problem. People must report,” said Locke.