When Edmonton police arrested Arshdeep Singh for shoplifting at West Edmonton Mall last November, they launched an investigation that ultimately put the young Indian national at the heart of a network believed responsible for the extortion crisis plaguing Canadian communities.
Singh’s phone held a cache of images and messages linking him to an arson in Ontario, a shooting in Edmonton, extortion cases in Surrey and auto theft and insurance fraud in the Lower Mainland, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
There was even a photograph of Singh alongside the alleged “prime conspirator” behind a series of extortion-linked shootings at a Surrey café.
