surrey's surge in extortion-related violence 'a national crisis', says business leader
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surrey business leaders say an increasing wave of extortion and gun violence has reached a crisis — and they’re frustrated by what they see as a slow police response.
kap’s cafe, owned by bollywood actor kapil sharma, was targeted by gunfire early thursday for the third time in three months. bullets pierced the building’s facade around 3:45 a.m. — the latest in a string of incidents police say bear the earmarks of extortion.
the café is one of several businesses targeted in a wave of extortion-related violence in surrey. police say more than half of the 65 extortion cases reported in the city in 2025 have involved shootings. seven charges have been laid.
a former top business leader says she’s watched as the crimes have escalated in the past two years, which she calls “a national crisis” with economic and public safety implications.
“it’s absolutely unacceptable,” said anita huberman, who served as ceo of the surrey board of trade for close to three decades before stepping down last year. “it’s not a matter of giving up because it’s an internationally connected crime. it’s about making it a priority for the federal government.”
as more cases were reported, huberman said business owners began to report a decline in walk-in customers and the dire effects on local spending and job stability.
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“people are scared, especially the south asian community. if they know what’s going on, it’s hard for them to report it.”
surrey police stand outside of kap’s cafe, after the building was targeted with gunfire in the early morning hours of thursday, oct. 16, 2025.
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a separate attack early sunday marked the first time someone has been injured in such an attack. a woman was sent to the hospital in critical condition after shots were fired at a surrey home at about 3 a.m. in the 13000 block of 103a avenue.
huberman said the current level of response is not matching the seriousness of the issue, and called on ottawa to intervene.
“the surrey police service can’t do it all. there needs to be real advocacy to ensure enhanced municipal policing and federal intelligence co-ordination to address this horrible wave of organized crime and extortion.”
a local south asian business leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, called the situation “really scary,” and described how victims fear demands for money and threats of violence if they speak out.
“nobody wants their name on anything because everyone’s terrified. if someone says, ‘hey, we need to do something,’ the next thing they get is a call saying, ‘oh, you think you know better? ok, we want $2 million.’”
targets continue to be mostly south asian business owners, the business leader said.
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“i know friends who are deep in police investigations because they’re being extorted,” the leader said, adding that frustration is increasing over the police response.
“it’s the south asian community being mostly targeted, and maybe that’s why things haven’t moved faster. i think if it were bigger developers in vancouver, the police response would have been quicker.”
earlier this month, surrey’s mayor and police chief launched a $250,000 reward fund for tips that lead to arrests and convictions in local extortion cases.
shattered glass at kap’s café after the building was targeted with gunfire in the early morning hours of thursday, oct. 16, 2025.
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the problem isn’t isolated to surrey or b.c. police in alberta and ontario also report extortion threats targeting south asian business owners.
on thursday, prime minister mark carney says the federal government will introduce new legislation next week aimed at keeping violent, repeat offenders — including those behind extortion schemes — off the streets.
the bill will make bail more difficult to obtain for serious offences, including extortion, violent auto theft, break and enter, human trafficking and assault. it will also allow for consecutive sentencing, meaning an offender handed multiple sentences must serve them back-to-back.
surrey–newton liberal mp sukh dhaliwal welcomed the announcement, saying that it sends a strong signal that ottawa is responding to concerns from his community.
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“it should not be the crown that has to prove that this guy should be behind bars,” said dhaliwal. “this will send a message to criminals that the government is very serious about this.”
dhaliwal said the issue demands better resources for law enforcement. he said ottawa plans to invest $1.8 billion over the next four years, partly to hire 1,000 new rcmp officers, including 150 for a new federal financial crimes unit.
“we have to have a force to take these extortion cases over — whether it’s happening in surrey or anywhere else,” dhaliwal said. “a dedicated unit will deal with these situations and help local police forces.”
anyone with information about the shooting or has dashcam or security footage is asked to contact surrey police at 604-599-0502 or contact crime stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
with a file from the canadian press
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