An “uptick” of extortions and shootings in Surrey and other cities in 2026 should not be seen as a crisis, the head of B.C.’s Extortion Task Force says.
The BC RCMP issued a press release and held a media conference on Tuesday, Jan. 20 to provide an update on the work of the task force as it marks four months in operation.
At the news conference, Assistant Commissioner John Brewer fired back at a reporter who characterized recent events – including multiple shootings in Surrey over the past week – as “shootings galore.”
“I know people are upset, I know people are scared. My job is to assure them that every police officer in this province, especially in the Lower Mainland and part of this task force, is working around the clock to ensure their safety,” Brewer said. “There’s not a crisis. A crisis is what’s happening out there with drug overdoses. That’s a crisis. People are dying. This is a threat to public safety, absolutely, and I take it very seriously.”
Brewer told reporters that police are working around the clock on the extortion files.
He called for the media to “be fair” and report on the work police are doing. While Surrey Police Service has provided regular updates on extortion-related incidents in the city, those from the B.C. task force have been less frequent.
B.C.’s Extortion Task Force has taken conduct of 32 files from jurisdictions across the Lower Mainland since launch day four months ago.
Investigators are analyzing physical, digital and forensic evidence “to establish linkages and advance investigations towards enforcement into identified cluster groups,” the news release said.
The Task Force has more than 1,000 exhibits and hundreds of hours of CCTV footage being “meticulously analyzed to find every vital piece of evidence,” Brewer said.
“Extortion investigations are complex, and investigators and Crown prosecutors must rely on lawfully obtained physical, digital and forensic evidence to put the pieces of the puzzle together and to prove the charges,” Brewer said.
“Please know that we are moving forward with each investigation to ensure that those who are responsible for these acts are held accountable,” he added.
Police believe that it is not one person or group behind the extortions. Brewer said some of the groups are local to the Lower Mainland, but some are associated with crime groups across the country. The task force is also looking into potential links to transnational crime, as groups like the India-based Lawrence Bishnoi gang have claimed responsibility online for several of Surrey’s 2025 extortion-related shootings.
As Surrey continues to see extortion-related shootings, some residents have allegedly taken matters into their own hands to protect themselves. Surrey Police Service is looking into whether someone inside a Bear Creek-area home fired back during a shooting incident early Saturday morning in Surrey.
Brewer strongly advised against doing this.
“When someone feels that they’re so at risk they have to take the law into their own hands, here’s what I would say to them: Don’t. You’re risking harm to yourself, but to others. Let the police do their job,” he said.
As a police officer, Brewer said, he is trained and responsible for “every single bullet” that leaves his gun. “That’s my that’s my job, and I’ve been trained to do that. I don’t know if anybody else has been trained to do that,” Brewer said.
His message to victims of extortion is to contact their local police jurisdiction, as they are responsible for the victims’ safety.
“But I will tell you that if you have lost faith in the police, that is misguided. The police are out there. They’re doing their job, both locally and provincially and nationally,” he said. “We are surging resources into Surrey specifically from around the Lower Mainland provincial units, who continue to conduct patrols in that area to target those areas, most likely based on the intelligence we have at the time, to be subject to either extortions, where they’re drive-bys or with shootings.”
Seven people have been criminally charged, Brewer said, and more charges are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Brewer added that police “are not on their back feet anymore.”
“We are now actively hunting these extortionists, and they know we’re hunting them. Make no mistake, they are changing their MO because we’re hunting them, and we will continue to hunt them. 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,” he said.
The task force has also executed search warrants in Alberta in partnership with local police.
Task force partner Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is said to be investigating 111 foreign nationals who may be inadmissible for Immigration and Refugee Protection Act-related offences. By Tuesday (Jan. 20), nine of those individuals have been removed from Canada, according to BC RCMP.
There have been four extortion-related shootings in Surrey this past week. Almost daily, Surrey Police report shots fired at businesses and homes as the city deals with an ongoing extortion crisis.
According to the latest Surrey Police Service numbers, reported Monday (Jan. 19), there have been 34 reported extortions, seven extortion-related shots-fired incidents, and 21 extortion-related victims (16 repeat victims) in Surrey in 2026.
As new extortion-related files come in for initial response by police of jurisdiction, “each is assessed to determine whether it is connected to any of the ongoing, previously identified series under investigation by the Task Force,” BC RCMP say.
The Task Force reports obtaining close to 100 judicial authorizations and executing multiple search warrants across the Lower Mainland, Southeast District and in Alberta.
“Investigators have made arrests, conducted searches incidental to those arrests and obtained statements to lawfully secure perishable evidence.
“In total, because of Task Force investigative efforts to date, seven individuals have been criminally charged. Concurrently, municipal policing partners have secured charges in some of their respective investigations both through independent investigations and through collaborative efforts gathering evidence with the Task Force.”
BC Extortion Task Force’s lengthy four-month update statement is posted on rcmp.ca.