Canada Border Services Agency agents at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in Niagara Falls, Ont., in October.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

For two years now, the city of Surrey, B.C., has been at the centre of a rash of extortion attempts, largely targeting its South Asian diaspora.

Surrey police and community members say that individuals and businesses that have refused to hand over large quantities of cash have seen their residences, shops and restaurants shot up – with the apparent extortionists sometimes brazenly posting videos of the alleged crimes on social media. It was these incidents, among others, that led Ottawa to declare India’s Lawrence Bishnoi gang a terrorist entity in September, accusing it of employing local foot soldiers to carry out its dirty work in Canada.

Brampton, Ont., which also has a large South Asian community, has also seen similar extortion activity.

Recently, the Canada Border Services Agency said it had zeroed in on 103 foreign nationals suspected of involvement in the extortion wave in B.C., and had started scrutinizing their immigration cases. But just as the CBSA began investigating the group further, 15 of these individuals claimed refugee status – effectively halting the probe in its........

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