Alberta sends $8M for police to tackle organized crime targeting South Asian community

The Alberta government is sending $8 million to law enforcement across the province to help crack down on organized crime and extortion, particularly targeting the South Asian community.

Four police forces are splitting the funding: the Edmonton and Calgary police services are receiving $2.24 million each; the Alberta RCMP is getting $2 million; and $1.5 million is going to ALERT.

“No single agency can tackle this threat alone,” said Mike Ellis, Alberta’s minister of public safety and emergency services.

“Families, businesses, communities deserve to live without fear of extortion, intimidation and violence.”

The province says the police forces will use the money to invest in specialized investigative resources and tools like surveillance, intelligence and digital forensic equipment as the threat of organized crime evolves.

“Increasingly, those behind these crimes are operating in the shadows, orchestrating activities online or through a web of faceless criminals preying on vulnerable people. But the impacts are anything but hidden,” Ellis said.

The Alberta RCMP says it’s allocating part of the funding to establish a mobile unit focused on gang activity and violence linked to drug and firearm offences.

“The team deploys to communities experiencing highest levels of crime, using data-driven intelligence to identify and target priority offenders causing the greatest harm,” the RCMP explained in a news release.

Extortion in Calgary, Edmonton

Alberta’s South Asian business community — most notably in Calgary and Edmonton — has been the target of extortions for years now. Some of the crime has spilled beyond those metro areas.

“Hardworking businesses, businessowners, and families who came to Alberta for a safe life were suddenly living in fear,” said Ranbir Singh Parmar with the Dashmesh Cultural Centre.

Victims typically receive threats or demands for payment, often via WhatsApp, social media, or international phone calls.

“In 2023, it was brought to our attention that this was occurring,” Ellis said. “As the minister of public safety, I reached out to the chiefs to determine if indeed this was something that was occurring right here in the province of Alberta. … We confirmed that that was indeed the case.”

Extortion crimes, which sometimes involve arson and shootings, have been on the rise in Calgary. CPS is actively investigating at least 28 extortion incidents, Ellis said Thursday. The RCMP has dealt with 45 cases since 2023, while in Edmonton there were about 40 cases in 2024.

READ MORE: Edmonton man kidnapped and taken to Calgary as bait in attempted South Asian extortion

In Alberta’s capital earlier this year, authorities cracked down on a criminal network linked to the violent extortion of South Asian business owners. That joint operation by EPS and Alberta RCMP led to the deportation of two suspects, including a man described as a “ringleader” and “decision-maker.”

Police described those latest crimes as a “small resurgence” following Project Gaslight, the police investigation that determined organized crime groups were targeting vacant, newly built and under-construction homes in Edmonton in 2023 and 2024 as part of international extortion activities with links to India.

“We also sought the extradition of the suspected leader, believed to be overseas, highlighting the transnational reach of organized crime and the challenges that creates for local investigations,” said EPS Deputy Chief Nicole Chapdelaine.

Authorities did not rule out the latest network being linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, an India-based group designated as a terrorist entity in Canada.

Minister Ellis appeared on an Indian TV network last year to deliver a message that crimes directed abroad and carried out in Alberta will not be tolerated.