Toronto: Considered the epicentre of the extortion crisis in Canada, the town of Surrey in British Columbia has not recorded a single shooting in connection with the crime over the past three months.
The outlet Vancouver Sun reported that there were no extortion-related shootings in Surrey between August and October this year. SPS’ officers are part of the British Columbia BC Extortion Task Force, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police-led outfit which unites police resources from Abbotsford, Delta, Surrey, Metro Vancouver Transit Police, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of BC and Canada Border Services Agency. All those publicly identified by police were Indian nationals.
In September this year, CBSA said 188 removal orders had been issued on various inadmissibility grounds related to extortion, and 111 individuals were removed from Canada.
“At least the most overt and dangerous component, the shootings, seem to have been quelled, but that is not an indication to us that the work is done,” a spokesperson for Surrey Police Service (SPS) told the outlet. SPS described extortion as an incident “when an individual receives a demand for money with a threat of violence or intimidation”. At the time, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree said that by “identifying and removing inadmissible individuals involved in criminal activity”, the government was “strengthening public safety”.
