Canadian immigration officials are investigating hundreds of people identified by the videotaping team
Canadian immigration officials are investigating hundreds of foreign nationals identified by BC’s anti-graft unit, according to new figures released to Global News.
The Canada Border Services Agency said it has launched an investigation into 296 people “brought to us by BC Extortion Task Force partners as persons of interest.”
The latest figures, as of February 4, represent a significant increase from just a month ago, when the task force said just over 100 CBSA investigations were ongoing.
Immigration officials are reviewing files for “possible inadmissibility,” meaning the CBSA may try to remove people from Canada because of immigration violations.
“As a result of this investigation, 32 people have been issued warrants, including 10 who have been removed from Canada,” said the CBSA statement.
Nine others are awaiting hearings at the Immigration and Refugee Board that could lead to deportation orders.
Statistics suggest that the fight against gangs spreading terror in Canadian cities with large South Asian populations is fueling a growing number of foreign nationals who should not be in the country.
Along with Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba, BC is facing a crime wave where Indian criminal gangs demand large sums of money from victims, many of whom are Canadians of Sikh background.
Those who are targeted are first threatened by phone. If they don’t pay, their homes and businesses are often sprayed with bullets or burned. Gangs are also blamed for the killings.
The violence has been perpetrated by Indian nationals recruited locally who enter Canada with expired student and work permits.
Behind this program there are a number of criminal organizations, especially the gang of Lawrence Bishnoi, who managed to get out of the Indian prison.
However, the fight against money laundering is complicated by the Bishnoi gang’s alleged ties to the Indian government, with which Canada is now seeking a trade deal.
Asked to explain the sudden increase in fraud-related cases, the CBSA did not provide a response by deadline. The RCMP did not respond to requests for comment.
Last September, Ottawa added the Bishnoi gang to its list of terrorist organizations, accusing it of targeting South Asian community leaders, businesses and cultural figures.
The BC government, meanwhile, has established a human recording team led by the RCMP and including immigration enforcement officers.
“In carrying out its public safety mandate, the CBSA is working with law enforcement partners to rid Canada of foreign criminals who have no right to be here,” the task force said in a January 20 statement.
BC Premier David Eby and Mayor Brenda Locke of Surrey, the city where most of the crimes took place, wanted more support.
Calling the attacks a “slow terrorist attack,” Eby has successfully called for more police and helicopters in communities affected by the disaster.
He also called for changes in deportation, saying it was “ridiculous” that some of those accused of fraud claimed to be refugees, which may have delayed their removal.
The Bishnoi gang’s extortion and murder-for-hire is all about making money, but the gang also represents the Indian government, according to the RCMP.
Canada believes India used Lawrence Bishnoi to target Canadians working in the separatist Khalistan movement, which advocates independence for Sikh-majority Punjab.
Evidence of the gang’s alleged work for the Indian government came to light following the 2023 killing of Sikh temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, BC.
His murder was allegedly carried out by four Indians working for Bishnoi, who was acting at the behest of officials in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Arrested in 2024 in Alberta and Ontario, the suspected gunmen, their suspected getaway driver and a fourth suspect await trial in BC Neither Bishnoi nor his Canadian lieutenant Goldy Brar have been charged.
As recently as October 2024, national security adviser Nathalie Drouin said the “highest levels” of the Indian government were working with the Bishnoi gang to target violence in Canada.
Testifying at a committee hearing, he said Indian politicians and proxy agents gathered information about Canadians and passed it on to officials in New Delhi.
“This information was shared with the highest levels of the Indian government, who then directed the commission of serious criminal activity against Indo-Canadians through Lawrence Bishnoi’s organized crime network,” he told the public safety committee.
“Bishnoi is currently in jail in India, and he is able to order these actions through his gang that has a criminal network in India and other countries.
“Serious crimes committed in Canada include murder, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery and other extreme violence.”
He also accused the Indian government of spreading “a false story that Canada is not showing evidence and that we were ignoring its concerns about the violent extremism of Khalistan.”
Deepening national security commitments
Despite allegations of India’s links to a gang accused of fueling the money-laundering crisis, Prime Minister Mark Carney has been deepening national security ties with New Delhi.
On February 6 and 7, India’s national security adviser, Ajit Doval, met in Ottawa with Drouin and Public Security Minister Gary Anandasangaree.
The visit comes as Carney seeks to increase Canadian exports to India amid a trade war launched by US President Donald Trump’s White House.
After Doval’s visit, the Office of the Secret Service said Canada and India agreed to exchange security and communications officials.
Doing so will help facilitate communication between the two countries and enable timely information sharing on issues of concern to Canada and India, the PCO said.
The PCO did not respond to questions from Global News about whether India acknowledged its role in Nijjar’s killing or pledged to avoid further attacks.
Canadian Sikh organizations were outraged that Doval was even allowed to enter Canada.
“Ajit Doval’s recent presence in Canada is a terrible betrayal,” said Moninder Singh, who was among more than a dozen Sikh activists warned by the RCMP that their lives were in danger.
“Doval, the man responsible for decades of human rights atrocities in Punjab, is the mastermind behind this campaign of repression and violence in Canada,” said Singh, a spokesperson for the Sikh Federation Canada.
He said India’s strategy was “to use criminal proxies to deceive and terrorize the Sikh population, and then offer ‘security cooperation’ as a Trojan horse to further infiltrate our institutions.”
Anandasangaree defended his government’s push to strengthen ties with India’s national security agencies.
“It is important that we have constructive discussions about safety and security,” said the minister when asked about his meeting with Doval.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada said it was disappointed that the government had arrested Doval.
“Mr Doval is widely regarded as the architect of India’s foreign intelligence and international coercion operations,” the agency said.
The government official read the meeting, however, did not mention India’s involvement in its attacks on Canadians, the WSO said.
“We have been clear that any so-called re-engagement with India must be based on accountability,” said spokesman Balpreet Singh.
“Instead, Mr. Doval’s visit to Canada further demonstrates that the government is willing to ignore ongoing criminal activity, fraud and intimidation in Canada that has its roots in India and is linked to the Government of India.”
“This is not diplomacy, appeasement.”
Conspiracy to kill another Canadian
India has also been accused of trying to kill another Canadian, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a pro-Khalistan activist based in New York.
Authorities believe the plots were part of the Modi government’s efforts to kill prominent members of the Khalistan movement in the West.
While plots were being drawn up, both Nijjar and Pannun were organizing a mock poll to measure support for Khalistan. No one has faced charges in Canada or the US
On Friday, Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in the US for his role in the plot to kill Pannun. The FBI alleges that an Indian intelligence officer masterminded the failed plot.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
