A police witness testified that a letter sent to Abbotsford, British Columbia, last summer claimed the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had more than 1,000 foot soldiers in Canada prepared to carry out extortions and shootings. The witness said the letter described the gang’s scale and hierarchy and referenced a requirement that every business pay a tax. The testimony occurred during an admissibility hearing for a suspected gang member, Jashandeep Singh, whom Edmonton police linked to a broader extortion network operating across Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. The witness also described fractures among extortionists and changes in police beliefs about the main perpetrators as the investigation progressed.
"Const. Kevin St. Louis with the Edmonton Police Service told an Immigration and Refugee Board member overseeing a hearing for a suspected member of the gang that the letter spoke to the scale and hierarchy of a criminal organization operating across Canada. "This specific letter outlined their criminal organization where they talked about having upwards of 1,000 individuals who are willing to carry out these shootings on behalf of the group," St. Louis testified. "It also alluded to how every business needs to pay their tax.""
"St. Louis was giving evidence at an admissibility hearing for Jashandeep Singh, an Indian national who Edmonton police identified last summer as part of what has turned into a sprawling investigation into an extortion network operating in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. Canada's Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship wants to deport Singh for organized criminality. The testimony connected the Abbotsford letter to the broader structure and operations of the alleged criminal organization."
"As primary investigating officer for Project Garter also known as Project Al-Extortion St. Louis spoke at length about fractures among the extortionists, their modus operandi and the structure of their organization. St. Louis told the tribunal that police initially believed the main perpetrators were members of the global gang Lawrence Bishnoi has been running from prison in India, a group the federal government listed as a terrorist entity last year."
#lawrence-bishnoi-gang #extortion-network #immigration-hearing #canada-organized-crime #police-investigation
Read at www.cbc.ca
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