Yet another Canadian Border Services Agency dog has helped seize kilograms of meat at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The CBSA said in a post on X Thursday that Moby intercepted more than 40 kilograms of undeclared beef and chicken recently; the goods were found in a traveller’s luggage arriving from Nigeria.
Travellers are required by law to declare all food, plant and animal products they bring into Canada, including live animals and animal products, such as cooked or raw meats, hides, skins, trophies, milk, fat, butter, cheese, eggs, fish and seafood.
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Failure to declare any of these products or to provide required permits/certificates can lead to detention of those products, a penalty of up to $1,300 and/or prosecution.
“Travellers may not realize the hazards associated with food, plant and animal products,” the CBSA said on its website.
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“These products may carry invasive species and diseases and may cause risks to Canada’s food supply, economy, environment and our health.”
The products Moby helped find were seized and the traveller was fined, the agency said.
Last month, detector dog Dharla sniffed out 2.5 kilograms of raw meat during an inspection. The items, which included raw duck, pigeon, chicken and rabbit, were found in a traveller’s luggage arriving from Egypt.
They were properly declared, the CBSA told Global News, so no enforcement actions were taken against the traveller.
However, the products were refused entry into Canada as they were contrary to Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulations, the agency added.
The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) is providing an update on its crackdown and response to extortion-related shootings.
On Wednesday, CBSA said it has been monitoring immigration cases that have been potentially linked to extortion cases since August.
As of March 12, it has opened 372 immigration investigations, issued 70 removal orders and removed 35 people from Canada.
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In the Pacific region, the CBSA says it has issued 34 removal orders and removed 25 people.
The agency also highlighted the recent deportations of two people, Arshdeep Singh and Sukhnaaz Singh Sandhu, saying both men were linked to organized crime and removed from Canada earlier this year.
The Surrey Police Service says as of early March, there have been 64 extortion-related cases in the city of Surrey alone. Eleven of those cases have been linked to extortion-related shootings, and it also comes as the mayor of Surrey reached out to the federal government, asking it to declare a national state of emergency due to the extortion crisis in cities across the Lower Mainland and across Canada.
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The federal government has not yet responded to the request.
The Canada Border Services Agency says it has opened 372 immigration investigations in an effort to “disrupt extortion networks” across the country.
It says the CBSA began formally monitoring immigration enforcement cases potentially linked to extortion in the Pacific and Prairie regions last August before expanding the work to the Greater Toronto Area in November.
The agency says that as of last Thursday, it had issued a total of 70 removal orders on various inadmissibility grounds, and 35 have been enforced.
Among the communities most impacted by extortion is Surrey, B.C., where there were 133 reported cases of extortions in 2025 and police are looking into 64 cases so far this year.
The CBSA says it is investigating people alleged to be engaged in extortion, operating a tip line where it encourages people to share information or directly report the “whereabouts of those who are inadmissible to Canada.”
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A followup email from the agency says as of March 12, 34 removal orders were issued in Pacific region, which includes B.C. and the Yukon, and 25 people have already been removed from Canada.
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It says the Pacific region’s first extortion-related immigration investigation began on August 26, 2025, ahead of the September announcement of B.C.’s Extortion Task Force.
Federal Conservative shadow minister for immigration Michelle Rempel Garner said in a statement that there were more than 13,000 reported incidents of extortion in Canada in 2024.
“While not all extortion incidents involve individuals who should be deported, the fact that CBSA has still only managed to enforce 35 removal orders does not denote progress,” she said.
Carney government unveils plan to tackle Canada’s growing extortion problem
The agency’s president, Erin O’Gorman, says in the news release that extortion “empowers organized criminal groups, targets vulnerable people and inflicts lasting harm on Canadian communities.”
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“The CBSA is committed to using every tool we have to counter this threat,” she says.
“By increasing our removal capacity and deepening our partnerships with police, we have made significant progress toward ensuring these criminals cannot remain in Canada.”
The agency highlighted two deportation cases, including that of Arshdeep Singh, who entered Canada on a study permit in 2022 but was arrested by border officers last year, accused of “membership in a criminal organization linked to extortion, arson, drug trafficking, and firearm offences.”
The CBSA says he was removed from Canada under escort in January.
Another deportee, Sukhnaaz Singh Sandhu, entered Canada as a temporary resident in 2016 but was arrested and detained for inadmissibility due to “organized criminality” in 2025, the agency says.
The CBSA says he was held in immigration detention on the grounds of being a danger to the public until his deportation under escort last month.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) says it has temporarily halted deportations to Israel and Lebanon due to ongoing hostilities in the Middle East.
In a statement, the agency said the measure is being implemented because of the “volatile and unpredictable” conflict affecting the region.
Officials say the current situation in Israel and Lebanon is creating widespread risks to civilians, with both countries reporting fatalities and injuries.
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The move, known as an Administrative Deferral of Removals, pauses deportations to countries deemed unsafe due to conditions such as violence or environmental disasters.
Under federal immigration regulations, the measure can be imposed when circumstances pose a generalized risk to the civilian population.
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The CBSA said the deferral does not apply to individuals deemed inadmissible to Canada for reasons such as criminality, serious criminality, organized crime, security concerns or human or international rights violations.
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The agency says removals will resume once conditions in Israel and Lebanon stabilize and no longer pose a broad risk to civilians.
At that point, individuals with enforceable removal orders who are inadmissible to Canada would again be subject to deportation.
The Canada Border Services Agency says charges have been laid against a Quebec company that hired several unauthorized foreign workers.
The CBSA said charges were laid on Thursday against Camping Havana Resort, 9267-1551 Québec Inc., company directors Ariane and Dominic Perrier, and an employee named Oscar Fuentes Labrada.
The offences occurred between May 2022 and April 2024, according to the CBSA.
“This investigation was initiated in December 2022 as a result of information received from the public,” the CBSA said. “A search conducted by CBSA investigators at the company’s premises on September 4, 2024 resulted in an accumulation of evidence leading to the laying of charges.”
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The CBSA said the company directors have been charged with one count of violating the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and are accused of hiring 21 foreign workers who were not authorized to work in their business.
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The employee charged is facing two charges under the act of inducing or encouraging company officials to hire foreign nationals not authorized to work and of encouraging people to work in Canada when they were not authorized to do so, the CBSA said.
A court appearance is scheduled for March 26 at the Granby courthouse.
“CBSA investigators work tirelessly to maintain fair labour market conditions and protect the health and safety of Canadians,” said Eric Lapierre with the CBSA in Quebec. “Anyone who hires foreign workers without authorization is subject to criminal prosecution.”
A secondary inspection of a commercial truck has led to the seizure of more than 250 kilograms of methamphetamine at the Canada-U.S. border.
The Canada Border Services Agency says it referred a commercial truck to secondary inspection at the Blue Water Bridge port of entry on Feb. 4. The vehicle was arriving from the U.S.
A detector dog was brought in to assist. On examination of the trailer, border service officers detected 16 duffel bags containing suspected methamphetamine. The total weight of the narcotics was 266.4 kilograms, or more than 587 pounds, officials said.
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CBSA say a 29-year-old man from Woodstock, Ont., was arrested and has been transferred to the RCMP, along with the narcotics.
He has been charged by RCMP with importation of methamphetamine, as well as possession of the drug for the purpose of trafficking.
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The case is now before the Ontario court of justice in Sarnia, Ont. The CBSA says charges are subject to validation by the court. The investigation is ongoing.
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Border service officers say they have seized approximately 616 kg of methamphetamine coming from the U.S. since Jan. 1.
Duffel bags filled with suspected methamphetamine are displayed by the Canada Border Services Agency. The seizure was made Feb. 4.
Canadian immigration officials are investigating hundreds of foreign citizens identified by B.C.’s anti-extortion unit, according to new figures released to Global News.
The Canada Border Services Agency said it had launched probes into 296 people who were “brought to our attention by B.C Extortion Task Force partner agencies as persons of interest.”
The latest statistics, which are as of Feb. 4, represent a sharp increase from just a month ago, when the task force said that just over 100 CBSA investigations were underway.
Immigration enforcement officers are reviewing the files for “potential inadmissibility,” meaning the CBSA may try to remove the individuals from Canada for immigration violations.
“As a result of these investigations, 32 people have been issued a removal order, including 10 people who have already been removed from Canada,” the CBSA said in a statement.
Another nine are awaiting hearings at the Immigration and Refugee Board that could result in deportation orders.
The statistics suggest the crackdown against the extortion gangs that have spread fear in Canadian cities with large South Asian populations is turning up an increasing number of foreign nationals who should not be in the country.
Along with Ontario, Alberta and Manitoba, B.C. is facing a wave of crimes in which India-based crime groups are demanding large sums of money from victims, most of whom are Canadians of Sikh background.
Those targeted are first threatened over the phone. If they don’t pay up, their homes and businesses are often sprayed with bullets or set on fire. The gangs have also been blamed for killings.
The violence has typically been carried out by locally recruited Indian nationals who entered Canada on student and work permits that have since expired.
Behind the scheme are a handful of criminal organizations, notably the gang of Lawrence Bishnoi, who has been able to operate out of an Indian prison.
The fight against extortion, however, is complicated by the Bishnoi gang’s suspected ties to the Indian government, which Canada is currently courting for a trade deal.
Asked to explain the sudden increase in extortion-related cases, the CBSA did not provide an answer by deadline. The RCMP did not respond to requests for comment.
Last September, Ottawa placed the Bishnoi gang on its list of terrorist entities, blaming it for targeting South Asian community leaders, businesses and cultural figures.
The B.C. government, meanwhile, formed an extortion task force that is led by the RCMP and includes immigration enforcement officers.
“In delivering on its public safety mandate, the CBSA works with law enforcement partners to rid Canada of foreign criminals who have no right to be here,” the task force said in a Jan. 20 update.
B.C. Premier David Eby and Mayor Brenda Locke of Surrey, the city where many of the extortions have occurred, have been seeking more federal support.
Calling extortions a “slow-motion terror attack,” Eby has successfully lobbied for more police officers and helicopters for communities impacted by the crisis.
He has also called for changes to deportations, saying it was “ludicrous” that some extortion suspects had claimed refugee status, likely delaying their removals.
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The Bishnoi gang’s extortions and murders for hire are money-making ventures, but the crime group has also acted on behalf of India’s government, according to the RCMP.
Canada believes India has used Lawrence Bishnoi to target Canadians active in the Khalistan separatist movement, which advocates for independence for the Sikh-majority Punjab.
Evidence of the gang’s suspected work for the Indian government came to light following the 2023 murder of Sikh temple leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C.
His assassination was allegedly carried out by four Indian nationals working for Bishnoi, who was acting at the direction of officials in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Arrested in 2024 in Alberta and Ontario, the accused gunmen, their alleged getaway driver and a fourth suspect are awaiting trial in B.C. Neither Bishnoi nor his Canadian lieutenant Goldy Brar have been charged.
As recently as October 2024, national security advisor Nathalie Drouin said “senior levels” of the Indian government worked with the Bishnoi gang to wage violence in Canada.
Testifying at a committee hearing, she said Indian diplomats and proxy agents collected information on Canadians and passed it on to officials in New Delhi.
“This information is shared with senior levels of the Indian government, who then direct the commission of serious criminal activities against Indo-Canadians through the kinetic use of Lawrence Bishnoi’s organized crime network,” she told the public safety committee.
“Bishnoi is currently in jail in India, and he is able to order these actions through his gang, which has extensive criminal networks in India and internationally.
“Serious crimes committed in Canada include homicides, assassination plots, perpetrated extortions and other extreme violence.”
She also accused the Indian government of spreading the “false narrative that Canada showed it no evidence and that we were ignoring its concerns about Khalistani violent extremism.”
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Deepening national security ties
Despite India’s alleged links to the gang blamed for fueling the extortion problem, Prime Minister Mark Carney has been deepening national security ties with New Delhi.
On Feb. 6 and 7, India’s national security advisor, Ajit Doval, met in Ottawa and with Drouin and Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree.
The visit came as Carney is pushing to increase Canadian exports to India amid a trade war initiated by the tariff-obsessed White House of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Following Doval’s visit, the Privy Council Office said Canada and India had agreed to exchange security and law enforcement liaison officers.
Doing so will help streamline bilateral communications and enable timely information sharing on issues of mutual concern to Canada and India, the PCO said.
The PCO did not answer questions from Global News about whether India had acknowledged its role in Nijjar’s murder or committed to refraining from further attacks.
Canadian Sikh organizations were outraged Doval was even allowed to enter Canada.
“The recent presence of Ajit Doval in Canada is a grotesque betrayal,” said Moninder Singh, who was among more than a dozen Sikh activists warned by the RCMP that their lives were in danger.
“Doval, the man responsible for decades of human rights atrocities in Punjab, is the primary architect of this transnational repression and violent campaign in Canada,” said Singh, who is the spokesperson for the Sikh Federation Canada.
He said India’s strategy was to “use criminal proxies to extort and terrorize the Sikh diaspora, then offer ‘security co-operation’ as a Trojan horse to further infiltrate our institutions.”
Anandasangaree defended his government’s push to strengthen ties with India’s national security agencies.
“It’s important that we have constructive dialogue around safety and security,” the minister said when asked about his meeting with Doval.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada said it was disappointed the government had hosted Doval.
“Mr. Doval is widely regarded as the architect of India’s foreign espionage and transnational repression operations,” the organization said.
The government’s official read-out of the meeting, however, made no reference to India’s involvement in its attacks on Canadians, the WSO said.
“We have been clear that any so-called re-engagement with India must be grounded in accountability,” spokesperson Balpreet Singh said.
“Instead, Mr. Doval’s visit to Canada once again signals that the government is prepared to ignore ongoing criminal activity, extortion, and intimidation in Canada that have roots in India and links to the Government of India.
“This isn’t diplomacy, it is appeasement.”
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Plot to kill another Canadian
India has also been accused of trying to kill another Canadian, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a New York-based pro-Khalistan activist.
Authorities believe the plots were part of the Modi government’s attempt to assassinate prominent members of the Khalistan movement in the West.
At the time of the plots, both Nijjar and Pannun were organizing a symbolic referendum to gauge support for Khalistan. Neither faced any charges in Canada or the U.S.
On Friday, Nikhil Gupta pleaded guilty in the U.S. to his role in the conspiracy to kill Pannun. The FBI alleges an Indian intelligence official set the failed plot into motion.
