While a Calgary Police investigator was on the phone taking a report from an extortion victim in Saddle Ridge on May 10, the suspect sent the victim a video of their own home.
The victim had called police after receiving threatening messages demanding money including a video of a shooting at an unrelated business, sent as an intimidation tactic. Officers immediately began investigating and put safety plans in place for the victim and their family. Then, in the middle of that call, a new message arrived: footage of the victim's residence. Someone had been watching.
Police reviewed CCTV from the area and identified a vehicle believed to be connected to the incident. Despite their efforts to locate the vehicle and identify the driver, they have been unable to do so. On June 23, CPS went public.
What police are looking for
The suspect vehicle is a blue 2005 or 2006 Hyundai Santa Fe with tinted side windows. It has two specific identifying features: rust on the rear driver's side wheel well and red tape on the driver's side taillight.
Photos of the vehicle are available on the City of Calgary Newsroom at newsroom.calgary.ca.
If you have seen this vehicle parked, in traffic, or anywhere in northeast Calgary — contact Calgary Police at 403-266-1234. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, online at calgarycrimestoppers.org, or through the P3 Tips app.
This is not an isolated incident
The May 10 attempt in Saddle Ridge is one of at least 46 extortion-related incidents Calgary Police have documented since the series began in April 2025. Nineteen of those incidents involved shootings at homes, businesses, or vehicles. To date, 14 individuals have been charged with 54 criminal offences in relation to the Calgary series. No one has been physically injured in Calgary's incidents so far.
The extortion series has overwhelmingly targeted members of Calgary's South Asian community. The pattern is consistent: victims receive threatening messages through WhatsApp or international phone calls, often accompanied by videos of shootings or property damage at other locations as proof that the threats are real. Demands are made for large sums of money or for victims to hand over control of their businesses. Those who contact police often find that the intimidation escalates.
In March 2026, police documented a shooting at a Saddleridge Drive residence connected to the series, repeated property damage at multiple locations, and suspicious activity at daycare businesses outside Calgary. In May, the series escalated significantly when a man was kidnapped from his Edmonton home, driven to Calgary, and forced to try to lure an extortion target out of his Cityscape residence. A privately manufactured firearm was seized in that investigation.
How the suspects operate
The extortion network is sophisticated and deliberately difficult to trace. Victims typically receive calls or messages from numbers generated outside Canada making the sources essentially untraceable through conventional investigation. Videos of actual shootings and property damage sent to victims who have no connection to those incidents serve as proof of capability and intent. Suspects conducting surveillance on victims' homes as appears to have happened in the May 10 Saddle Ridge incident demonstrates a level of operational planning that goes beyond opportunistic crime.
"Extortion is basically theft by blackmail or a threat of violence," said Doug King, a criminal justice professor at Mount Royal University. "For a victim, you're not only in fear of losing material things money and that but you're now living the life of: am I going to be harmed?"
CPS Superintendent Jeff Bell has said openly that fear of retribution, fear of judgment from the community, and distrust of authorities have prevented some victims from coming forward. "We feel there's a couple different factors that are preventing people from contacting police fear, fear of retribution, judgment from the community. There's a lot of factors that go into this, but we encourage people to come forward."
Where this started and how far it has spread
The extortion wave did not begin in Calgary. Experts who study organized crime say it originated in British Columbia, spread to Ontario, then Edmonton, and then Calgary. The cases are believed to have links to organized crime operating outside Canada which is part of what makes the investigations so complex and why CPS has been working with the RCMP, Edmonton Police Service, and Canada Border Services Agency across multiple investigations.
The Alberta government committed $8 million in early 2026 specifically to help Calgary Police address the extortion surge one of the few times provincial dollars have been directed specifically to a municipal organized crime investigation of this kind.
If you are being targeted
Do not pay. Contact Calgary Police immediately at 403-266-1234.
A dedicated extortion email address is available for individuals who want to share information directly with investigators: extortion@calgarypolice.ca.
More information and resources for extortion victims are at calgarypolice.ca/extortions.
Sources:
City of Calgary Newsroom, Police looking for blue SUV in extortion investigation, June 23, 2026 (newsroom.calgary.ca)
City of Calgary Newsroom, Two more men charged in extortion series, June 1, 2026 (newsroom.calgary.ca)
City of Calgary Newsroom, Calgary police make additional arrests in extortion series, May 15, 2026 (newsroom.calgary.ca)
City of Calgary Newsroom, Police lay charges in ongoing South Asian extortion series investigation, April 1, 2026 (newsroom.calgary.ca)
City of Calgary Newsroom, Seeking public assistance in extortion investigation, June 19, 2026 (newsroom.calgary.ca)
CPS Supt. Jeff Bell, media statements, April 2026
