Toronto: Five Indian-origin men have been arrested and charged in Canada in connection with an alleged extortion campaign involving shootings, arson, firearms trafficking and drug offences, according to police and media reports.
The arrests followed a 16-month investigation into an auto dealership whose co-owners reported extortion demands in June 2025, followed by two attacks involving arson and shootings at its Langley and Surrey locations, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement on Friday.
It described the five accused as "foreign nationals".
According to the statement, one of them, 23-year-old Sanket Singla, is from India. He was arrested on Thursday at the Toronto Pearson International Airport after investigators facilitated his entry into Canada.
The other accused - Sahil, 24, Simranjeet Singh, 24, and Harsh, 21, all residents of British Columbia, and Jagdeep Singh, 24, a resident of Ontario - were arrested in Surrey.
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All five remain in custody, according to police.
The British Columbia (BC) Prosecution Service charged all five with extortion on Thursday. Some of the accused also face additional charges related to firearms, arson, explosives and cocaine trafficking.
Singla and Simranjeet Singh caused damage to a vehicle by fire or explosion and threw Molotov cocktails into the auto shop with the intent to destroy or damage property, the CBC News reported. Sahil also faces charges of trafficking cocaine and transferring prohibited firearms, the report said.
The investigation also led to the seizure of four firearms, ammunition and magazines, as well as suspected fentanyl, cocaine and opium, the RCMP said. Police said evidence gathered during the investigation may also be connected to other extortion and violence cases in British Columbia and Alberta, adding that further charges could follow.
The Canadian Press reported that the arrests are among a series of cases being investigated after a province-wide extortion task force was launched last year. The extortion cases have largely involved threats against business owners and members of the South Asian community, according to the report.
Chief Superintendent Duncan Pound of the BC extortion task force said it would emerge during court proceedings whether the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was involved in the cases, it said.
The Canadian government designated the transnational criminal syndicate led by imprisoned Indian gangster Lawrence Bishnoi as a terrorist entity in September 2025.
Bishnoi is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad.
Pound said alleged perpetrators in some investigations had claimed links to prominent gangs to increase intimidation and noted that extortion was also a means of making money.
