Officials with the Edmonton Police Service are holding a news conference Thursday to provide new details on a joint forces operation investigation into a string of extortions targeting the city’s South Asian community.

Edmonton police together with the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT), RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), have created a joint forces operation to investigate a string of reported extortion attempts.

In a news release Thursday, Edmonton police said the investigation to date has resulted in the removal of two suspects from Canada and identified more than 50 additional suspects with alleged connections to a criminal network believed to be responsible for orchestrating the extortions in Edmonton.

The news conference is expected to begin at 9 a.m. MT. You can watch it live here.

Officials expected to speak at Thursday’s news conference include Supt. Robinder Gill, with the Criminal Investigations Division of EPS, Kristine Conroy, an enforcement manager with the CBSA and Chief Supt. Duncan Pound, a commander with Lower Mainland District RCMP.

Project Gaslight

Edmonton police have been attempting to stifle extortion schemes in the city since the fall of 2023 when a series of violent threats, arsons and drive-by shootings began.

Several Edmonton developers saw their properties burned after receiving messages telling them to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The crimes resulted in a years-long, high-profile police investigation, which resulted in the arrest of six people and warrants issued for a seventh. 

The investigation, dubbed Project Gaslight, formally concluded in 2024.

But, as the months passed, reported extortions continued to surface across the Edmonton region, police said. 

A new joint operation

On Thursday, police said their latest investigation began in the spring of 2025.

At that time, the EPS Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement Unit launched an investigation into a rash of new extortion incidents targeting South Asian business owners in Edmonton, while Alberta RCMP received a string of new reports of similar crimes occurring in communities surrounding the city.

The 2025 investigations prompted the creation of a joint forces operation with the RCMP under the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team, supported by the CBSA, police said Thursday.