BURST
While Vancouver has not had any reported extortions so far, some business owners victimized in other Lower Mainland cities live here, Vancouver Police Supt. Dale Weidman said Wednesday.
Weidman was one of several senior Vancouver police officers who addressed a forum in South Vancouver Wednesday night offering preventive tips to about 250 concerned community members.
Two women in the audience suggested there have been extortions in Vancouver, but victims have not felt comfortable going to police.
Supt. Phil Heard acknowledged some might be too fearful to report being targeted by extortionists.
“We recognize there are significant barriers,” Heard said. “We recognize not everyone always feels confident coming forward to the police.”
Heard said that while there have been more than 130 extortions reported in Abbotsford and Surrey so far this year, Vancouver has so far been luckier.
“While these crimes haven’t yet arrived here, we’re cognizant of the fact that residents’ businesses could be targeted, and the fact that these crimes haven’t arrived here isn’t any kind of criticism or commentary on any other community or any other police agencies that we’re partners with in the region. It’s just simply sometimes crime trends don’t spread evenly across the region,” he said.
VPD officers assigned to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit are part of the provincial anti-extortion task force.
Acting Insp. Harm Rai said that “extortion thrives on fear,” urging anyone who receives a threatening call or message to call 911 immediately.
“So extortions start off with a call, a message or a warning that seems harmless at first, but the goal is always the same: to create fear and force someone to pay or comply,” he said.
“One of the most important aspects of extortion is intimidation. This can include vandalism, or in some instances we’ve seen online and in the news where shootings occur,” Rai said. “Obviously, there’s a significant public safety concern for victims, residents and the police. There’s a pressure to stay silent and not contact police.”
He also said victims should preserve all messages received, as well as write notes of what was said during calls and save other physical evidence like CCTV footage, if it exists.
But anyone can reduce the risk they face by limiting personal information they post online about themselves and their families, including home addresses, phone numbers, and details of their vehicles, he said.
Weidman said if someone is extorted, they should never pay.
“If you give out easy money, they are going to come back for more,” he said.
He said Vancouver Police decided to hold the forum “because we want to get ahead of the problem” and assure community members that any reported extortions will be taken extremely seriously by police.
“We have a lot of resources that we can bring to bear to any of these problems. We’ll treat this situation like a serious crime, like a murder, like a kidnapping, and with the whole intent of solving it and keeping you safe,” Weidman said.
VPD Acting Insp. Harm Rai said don't live in fear of extortion, but reduce risk. Control what you put online, he tells a few hundred people at #antiextortionforum
— Kim Bolan (@kbolan) November 27, 2025
Santok Singh Suri thanked police for holding the forum, but said officers are “giving us a bandage if the wound comes, not giving us a solution.”
He pointed to reports that jailed Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi is behind some of the extortions and related violence in Canada.
“How can someone run crime from a jail?” he asked. “We are a peaceful community and now all of a sudden we are all threatened. You need to find out what is the cause, what is the root of it.”
Sital Dhillon, a community activist, told Postmedia that she wonders if the extortion issue would have been treated more seriously if it had impacted the broader community and not primarily South Asians.
“Had the extortion activities been more mainstream, would this have been given more priority?” she said. “Would there have been more seriousness given to this situation. Is it being swept under the carpet?”
Khalsa Diwan Society vice-president Jagdeep Singh Sanghera told Postmedia that there “are always rumours flying around” about who may have been targeted in Vancouver and who is potentially behind the extortions.
“We applaud VPD for taking a proactive step, because the other cities should have done the same thing earlier, before things got out of hand,” he said. “The community needs to know they’re protected, and where to reach out and that the VPD is there to look after them and their families.”
Bluesky: @kimbolan.bsky.social