{"id":123603,"date":"2025-09-06T05:58:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T05:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/123603\/"},"modified":"2025-09-06T05:58:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T05:58:13","slug":"nanaimo-store-owners-mull-moving-back-to-india-due-to-rampant-crime-bc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/123603\/","title":{"rendered":"Nanaimo store owners mull moving back to India due to rampant crime – BC"},"content":{"rendered":"

They moved to Canada seven years ago for a better life, but the owners of a Nanaimo corner store say they\u2019re now considering moving back to India due to rampant crime, drug use and street disorder.<\/p>\n

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Ravi Patel and his wife Sarita purchased Superette Foods at the corner of Albert and Milton Streets near the city\u2019s downtown last November.<\/p>\n

The building has housed some form of grocery store for more than a century, and Patel\u2019s business is known for its low prices.<\/p>\n

But since taking over, Patel said he\u2019s had to raise prices due to repeated thefts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting tougher and tougher every day,\u201d he told Global News.<\/p>\n

Even with some 35 cameras watching the aisles, Patel said shoplifters are not deterred.<\/p>\n

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The couple said they will be adding more cameras and have already spent $20,000 to install a six-foot high fence around their parking lot and building.<\/p>\n

Still, they said break-ins, vandalism, and trespassing continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven at night, it\u2019s stressful for me to stay awake to see if they come inside,\u201d said Patel.<\/p>\n

With their Canadian dream descending into a nightmare, the couple has discussed possibly returning to India as a safer option.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told my wife, I think we (made a) mistake by coming to this country,\u201d Patel said Friday. \u201cEverybody\u2019s getting free, free, free, and those who really want to pay taxes \u2014 they are getting nothing, no security, no nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"For<\/p>\n

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The Patels, who first settled in Halifax after arriving in Canada, previously owned Mike\u2019s Convenience Store in Delta.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Click<\/p>\n

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, they stopped a young man from depositing over $5,500 dollars at a Bitcoin ATM to fraudsters, and were praised by police for preventing potential victims from falling for a\u00a0Bitcoin scam<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe feel that it is our duty to help the people here,\u201d said Patel in a December 2020 interview with Global News.<\/p>\n

Now, the couple is pleading with the government for help.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this is costing us a lot,\u201d said Patel. \u201cWe want all this social disorder to go away from here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want support and security from government because you know we are paying our employees, we are paying taxes,\u201d added Sarita.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tMore on Crime
\n\t\t\tMore videos\n\t\t<\/p>\n

Global News requested an interview on Friday with B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Nina Krieger, but were told she was unavailable.<\/p>\n

After our deadline, Krieger\u2019s ministry sent a statement from Terry Yung, Minister of State for Community Safety and Integrated Services.<\/p>\n

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Yung said the safety of\u00a0people and businesses is a top priority, and the province continues to work with communities to ensure they have access to the resources and supports needed to create a safe and vibrant community for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know more needs to be done, and we\u2019re going to keep working hard with our partners in all sectors to implement real solutions so people can build a good life, in safer communities in British Columbia,\u201d read the statement.<\/p>\n

Nanaimo\u2019s mayor said it\u2019s time for senior governments to act on street disorder by providing the necessary resources for real change.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUnfortunately, this did not happen overnight, and it\u2019s not going to get better overnight, but it\u2019s never going to get better if we don\u2019t get going,\u201d Leonard Krog told Global News in an interview.<\/p>\n

Krog added he is sincerely hopeful that housing for people experiencing homelessness in Nanaimo, announced by the B.C. government earlier this year, will have a significant impact.<\/p>\n

In May, the province, through BC Housing, said it was providing approximately $32 million to deliver 187 spaces across three sites:50 new units at 1300 Island Hwy. S., operated by Connective Support Society59 new units at 1030 Old Victoria Rd., operated by Vancouver Island Mental Health Society78 renovated units at the Sparrow, 1298 Nelson St., operated by Pacifica Housing<\/p>\n

The Patels are hoping they won\u2019t have to give up on a building which has served the community as a supermarket since the early 1900s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be sad,\u201d said customer Ken Baker. \u201cI hope that doesn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They moved to Canada seven years ago for a better life, but the owners of a Nanaimo corner…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,2169,44],"class_list":["post-123603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-crime","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}