Canadian police have revealed that a letter allegedly linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed the criminal organization had more than 1,000 individuals willing to carry out shootings across Canada as part of an extortion network targeting members of the South Asian community. The letter was delivered to a police station in Abbotsford, British Columbia, in August 2025 and was disclosed during a recent deportation hearing before Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board. According to Edmonton Police Service Constable Kevin St. Louis, the letter outlined the group’s structure and warned that businesses were expected to pay a “tax,” highlighting the gang’s alleged extortion-driven operations.
The testimony offered a rare glimpse into the scale of the gang’s activities in Canada. Police allege the Bishnoi-linked network has been behind a wave of extortion attempts targeting South Asian business owners and community members in several provinces. Investigators say victims are often contacted through WhatsApp and threatened with violence if they fail to pay large sums of money. Homes and businesses have reportedly been targeted in shootings linked to these extortion demands, particularly in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
Law enforcement officials believe the group recruits individuals, including young people, to carry out attacks for relatively small payments while offering them a sense of belonging within a criminal network. During the hearing, police identified Jora Sidhu as a key figure allegedly responsible for handling extortion communications, though investigators believe he was operating from outside Canada. Authorities also noted the emergence of copycat groups using the names of Lawrence Bishnoi and his associate Goldy Brar to intimidate victims, even when they may not be directly connected to the organization. Bishnoi, who remains incarcerated in India, was designated as part of a terrorist-linked criminal network by Canadian authorities last year, as investigations into the group’s activities continue.
