The Canada Border Services Agency says 35 people have now been removed from the country in connection to extortion investigations. “As of March 12, 2026, the CBSA has opened 372 immigration investigations, 70 removal orders have been issued for various inadmissibility grounds and 35 removals have been enforced,” the agency said in an update on its efforts Wednesday. The update highlighted two specific individuals who have been deported, sharing their photos and brief backstories. Arshdeep Singh was removed from Canada on Jan. 19, according to the CBSA. He entered Canada on a study permit in 2022 and was arrested in November 2025. Border officers reported him “inadmissible for membership in a criminal organization linked to extortion, arson, drug trafficking, and firearm offences.” The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada found him inadmissible the following month and issued a deportation order. He was held in immigration detention after his arrest because of concerns he could be a danger to the public and a flight risk, and he was removed from Canada “under escort,” the CBSA said. Sukhnaaz Singh Sandhu was also arrested and detained in November 2025, with border officers reporting him inadmissible for “organized criminality.” He had entered Canada as a temporary resident in 2016. The IRB found Sandhu inadmissible and ordered him deported, and he was removed from Canada under escort on Feb. 3, according to the CBSA. The agency’s statement did not specify where the two men allegedly committed their crimes. In a follow-up release Wednesday, the CBSA’s Pacific Region said its efforts had generated 34 removal orders and 25 deportations as of March 12. That works out to nearly half of all extortion-related removal orders and more than two-thirds of all completed removals reported in the national statement. The CBSA has been working with the B.C. Extortion Task Force and the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team since August 2025, and expanded to working with police in the Greater Toronto Area on extortion files in November 2026. “These cases come to the agency’s attention through many sources, including collaboration with extortion task forces, tips from partner agencies and the public, and CBSA’s own investigative work,” the CBSA said in its statement Wednesday. “When police identify individuals who may be in violation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), they notify the CBSA who conducts investigations that may lead to immigration enforcement action, including removal from Canada.” Extortion-related shootings at homes and businesses in B.C.’s Lower Mainland have grown less common in recent weeks, after surging to a crisis level at the start of the year. The extortion attempts have primarily targeted members of the South Asian community, and many of the identified suspects have been foreign nationals. As of mid-February, the CBSA said it had launched nearly 300 investigations after receiving referrals from the provincial task force. At the time, 32 removal orders had been issued and 10 people had been deported. The agency says it is in the process of hiring 1,000 new officers under the $30.4-million “Border Plan” and the 2025 federal budget. “Extortion empowers organized criminal groups, targets vulnerable people and inflicts lasting harm on Canadian communities,” said CBSA president Erin O’Gorman, in the statement. “The CBSA is committed to using every tool we have to counter this threat. By increasing our removal capacity and deepening our partnerships with police, we have made significant progress toward ensuring these criminals cannot remain in Canada.”
