17 charged in cross-border extortion targeting South Asian businesses

Seventeen people face more than 100 criminal charges following a cross-border investigation into a series of violent extortion incidents that predominantly targeted South Asian businesses in the Greater Toronto Area, Peel regional police announced Tuesday.

The joint investigation, which began last December, involved Peel police alongside provincial, federal, and United States authorities. It dismantled what officials described as a coordinated campaign of intimidation, threats, and escalating violence aimed at forcing local businesses to comply with extortion demands. Police said several businesses, including restaurants and trucking companies, were repeatedly targeted after refusing to pay.

In one incident, investigators allege two people carried out a shooting and arson at a home in Caledon, Ontario, followed minutes later by a second shooting at a business in Brampton, Ontario. Police said the 17 suspects have been linked to 24 separate incidents, 16 of which are tied to a criminal network known as For Brothers, which authorities say targets South Asian business owners and community members in both Canada and the United States.

The network is believed to have been active in...