City police have arrested four men and one woman and are searching for two others in connection with a wave of extortion attempts and arsons that primarily targeted core-area businesses, the Free Press has learned.
Those arrested are: Cora Renae Penner, 32; James Dean Herda, 33; Jahaid Hossain Maruf, 26; Jerry Marcel Martin, 49; and Lorenzo Lucas, 65. All five face extortion-related charges.
Lucas and Martin, both from Montreal, are also charged with arson with disregard for human life, arson causing damage to property, and theft under $5,000. Penner was released on an undertaking. The other four remain in custody.
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Farhan Nabil, 29.
Police are now seeking the public’s help to locate two additional male suspects: Farhan Nabil, 29, and Jermaine Weekes, 40. Canada-wide warrants have been issued for both men.
The Free Press confirmed in December Weekes was previously arrested and charged with two counts of extortion. The Free Press could not immediately confirm when he was released. Police are not certain the men are still in the province.
Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Jennifer McKinnon said anyone with information about the two should contact police immediately.
“We’re looking for help from the public,” she told the Free Press on Monday. “So if anybody sees these two individuals, they’re not to approach them. If they’re not in Winnipeg, they should phone their law enforcement of their jurisdiction. If they are in Winnipeg and they’re in immediate danger, they’re to call 911. If they’re not in danger, but they see the person walking down or standing at the bus stop, they should call our non-emergency line to get a cruiser car to come out right away.”
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Jermaine Weekes, 40.
The charges stem from incidents involving four core-area convenience stores, an unoccupied warehouse, as well as a retail business on Portage Avenue, where a theft was reported. Three of the targeted convenience stores were located on Selkirk Avenue.
Two arsons were reported at businesses on Selkirk Avenue and another on Spruce Street.
In one case, court documents allege the accused threatened store staff, warning they would “burn this place down.”
The incidents took place between July 16 and July 24 last year, McKinnon said.
She said police have not linked these incidents to other extortion cases targeting South Asian communities across the country, but police did speak with law enforcement in other jurisdictions during the investigation.
“When we talk about organized crime, crime groups, like Hell’s Angels or something like that, we have no information to indicate that they’re connected to any kind of identified organized crime group,” McKinnon said. “But this is an organized group of individuals who have connections in Winnipeg and Manitoba, who have come in to facilitate these extortions. And the arson is a symptom of that extortion. It’s like the weapon that’s being used, or the threat.”
McKinnon declined to detail how the extortion attempts unfolded, but said individuals within the group of seven attended the businesses at different times and were not always together.
“This is an organized group of individuals who have connections in Winnipeg and Manitoba, who have come in to facilitate these extortions.”
The arrests follow a growing series of violent incidents targeting businesses, many in the city’s North End, where owners say they have been pressured to pay protection money to an organized extortion ring or risk having their businesses burned down.
At the time, business owners alleged that four men were demanding large sums of money in exchange for allowing them to continue operating. Those who refused, they said, saw their businesses set on fire.
Several of the business owners created a group chat to document their experiences and share information.
It remains unclear whether other businesses were targeted, including Logan Convenience at 1521 Logan Ave., which was destroyed by fire early Oct. 28.
Logan Convenience went up in flames on Oct. 28, 2025.
McKinnon said the investigation into other incidents remains ongoing.
All of the incidents happened to businesses owned by those from the Indian and South Asian community.
“They’re one-off convenience stores, single owners, small businesses, workers that may be vulnerable in the sense that they’re new Canadians, don’t speak the language, which can factor into some of these understandings of what’s happening,” she said. “It’s less likely to be reported to police than I would say more established business.”
Surveillance video of an incident at Logan Convenience, which later circulated on social media, shows two people entering the store shortly after 1 a.m. One suspect appears to point a gun at the clerk while the other pours liquid from a gas can across the floor.
Moments later, the armed suspect escorts the clerk outside as flames engulf the 1 1/2-storey building — constructed in 1906 and once home to a CIBC branch.
“These guys should get maximum time.”
“It’s still factoring into the investigation, but no charges have been laid,” McKinnon said of the Logan Avenue business. “These investigations are not unlike a homicide investigation. There’s a nuance to them because arson obviously covers up any forensic evidence.”
She said videos posted to social media have, at times, hindered investigations.
“That gives the ability of the people who are involved in it to see it and then get rid of and destroy evidence before the police can get to it,” she said. “I would always suggest, call us, let us do our jobs. I do know, though, that there was significant frustration and they want to highlight that, and I understand that, and they can do that on social media without releasing evidence like that.”
Other factors have also played a part, McKinnon said, including mistrust in policing, language barriers and perpetrators concealing their identities.
Business owners, many of whom are afraid to speak to media, told the Free Press under a condition of anonymity that they feel helpless and frightened, believing they have no choice but to comply with extortion demands.
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“These guys should get maximum time,” said one of the affected business owners Monday. “These were businesses that are just trying to feed their family, and a lot of people got hurt, a lot of people were, and are, terrified because of a lot of damage for nothing. They took advantage of the immigrant community.”
Another Selkirk Avenue business owner was relieved.
“Thank goodness. I can breathe a bit easier,” said the owner, who was happy to hear police had made arrests. “Every morning, I’m checking my phone for my security cameras. It’s been tough around here.”
The man said his business was robbed Friday.
In November, police arrested another man — 35-year-old Jesse Wheatland — and charged him with multiple arson, break-in and damage-related offences that targeted restaurants, the constituency offices of two Manitoba cabinet ministers, and other places.
“Thank goodness. I can breathe a bit easier.”
Two of the targeted restaurants, Commonwealth Kitchen and Bar and the Exchange Event Centre, had previously employed Wheatland, restaurant staff told the Free Press.
McKinnon said the overlap between the two investigations initially complicated matters.
“Initially, you wonder if they’re all the same series or are these different people,” she said. “It took a while for us to separate them, and that was basically done on the (fact the) restaurants had a different modus operandi versus the extortions.”
Police also said the trade of illegal cigarettes in the province plays a part in this investigation, but would not elaborate.
— with files from Dean Pritchard
scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca
Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott.
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