B.C. RCMP says it’s ‘actively hunting’ extortionists, urges public not to take matters into their own hands

Police are “actively hunting” those who are extorting businesses and individuals in B.C., according to RCMP Assistant Commissioner John Brewer, who is urging residents not to take matters into their own hands.

Brewer faced questions from reporters on Tuesday, just hours after police in Surrey reported their 35th suspected extortion case of 2026, after a business was shot at early that morning.

That, after Surrey police said Monday people targeted in an extortion-related shooting on Saturday tried to shoot back.

Surrey — B.C’s second largest city by population — had a total of 132 extortion attempts, 49 of them involving shootings, in 2025, according to local police.

When asked whether police had lost control of public safety in Surrey, Brewer became visibly and audibly emotional.

“There’s not a crisis,” he said during a heated exchange, adding that he sees toxic drugs as a true crisis. “This is a threat to public safety, absolutely, and I take it very seriously.”

He acknowledged there has been an “uptick” in extortion-related shootings in 2026, and said that any time someone reports an extortion attempt, police are responding.

“We are now actively hunting these extortionists,” he said. “We will root them out from every dark corner they try to hide in, and we will either put them before the courts, or they will be deported.”

Cases of extortion in B.C. have mostly targeted South Asian communities, with people receiving threats and demands for money. Surrey, Delta and Abbotsford have been disproportionately affected.

The provincial task force was formed in mid-September and brings together RCMP, municipal police agencies, transit police and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to work collaboratively on the cases.

It doesn’t automatically get involved with every suspected case of extortion in B.C., with municipal forces handling some on their own.

32 files, 7 charged, 111 possibly inadmissible to Canada

Since Sept. 17, 2025, the task force has worked on 32 files from across the Lower Mainland, according to an RCMP news release Tuesday.

They have also obtained 100 judicial authorizations, such as search warrants, seen charges approved for seven people, some of whom were Canadian and some who were not, and worked with the Canadian Border Services Agency to investigate 111 foreign nationals who may be inadmissible to Canada for Immigration and Refugee Protection Act related offences, RCMP said.

So far, nine of those people have been removed from Canada, police said.

The release said the task force also has more than 1,000 exhibits and hundreds of hours of CCTV footage.

“Please know that we are moving forward with each investigation to ensure that those who are responsible for these acts are held accountable,” Brewer said in the release.