November 7, 2025
Vancouver, British Columbia
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Pacific Region Immigration Enforcement and Intelligence and Investigations Operations are part of a newly created BC Extortion Task Force which was announced by the Province of B.C. in September and is led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). This task force was created to address the sharp rise in extortion threats and violence against businesses, particularly those within the South Asian community in the Lower Mainland.
The role of the CBSA in this task force is to assist in the execution of search warrants, conduct Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) investigations and share information with law enforcement partners.
To date, the CBSA has initiated immigration investigations into 78 foreign nationals who may be inadmissible and has removed from Canada three individuals related to these investigations.
The BC Extortion Task Force consists of 40 members drawn from various policing agencies, including the CBSA, B.C. RCMP, Abbotsford Police Department, Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit - B.C. (CFSEU-BC), Delta Police Department, Metro Vancouver Transit Police, Surrey Police Service and Surrey Provincial Operations Support Unit. The task force receives support from the federal RCMP National Co-ordination and Support Team (NCST), which offers co-ordination and information sharing on extortion cases with law-enforcement agencies in affected provinces including B.C., Alberta and Ontario.
