Many people from Punjabi community identified on suspicion of extortion in Canada, 111 people in sight (file photo)
Digital Desk, New Delhi. Canada has stepped up its crackdown on extortion cases reported in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and investigators are now analyzing the involvement of over a hundred foreign nationals.
The British Columbia Extortion Task Force, established in 2025 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), has identified 111 foreign nationals, a report said. Many of them have been identified under suspicion of belonging to the Punjabi community. A part of this criminal revenue is also said to be used to finance diaspora Khalistan separatist activities.
According to officials, investigators are examining closed circuit television footage, digital and forensic material to trace the networks that are operating in different areas. These cases involve threats and demands for money targeting individuals and businesses, creating a climate of fear in many areas.
The task force said that anyone found to have engaged in criminal activity would not receive protection from immigration or refugee status. Asylum claims or refugee protection do not prevent criminal charges or action by immigration authorities.
A significant portion of the cocaine and fentanyl entering Western Canada now moves through networks controlled by a subset of Punjabi-Canadian organized crime groups, the NDTV report said, citing law enforcement sources in both countries.
Author, cultural critic and filmmaker Vikram Zutshi wrote for NDTV, "Canada is home to the world's largest Sikh immigrant community (about eight lakh Sikhs). Most are law-abiding citizens who have enriched the country through trucking, farming, manufacturing and small businesses.
Yet a small, violent faction within the Punjabi-Canadian community has become deeply entangled with international organized crime over the past two decades.'' Since its inception in September the task force has taken over 32 extortion-related files from police agencies in British Columbia.
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