Peel’s police chief says there is a real fear right now among business owners in the South Asian community.

Wednesday morning Chief Nishan Duraiappah provided an update on the task force created in December and aimed at fighting extortion attempts targeting the South Asian community.

He says they have been similar trends in Alberta, lower mainland British Columbia, as well as in certain locations in the United States.

“Our investigative team continues to liaise and work with our respective police agencies on a national and international basis to continue to ensure that we are sharing information that is responsible to this complex set of extortions that we’re seeing as well as the volume of incidents,” Duraiappah explained.

He says a specific investigation has resulted in the arrest of four people and the seizure of firearm ammunition, cash, numerous computers and approximately 50 cellphones.

He says they’ve been charged with two separate extortion incidents in Peel Region and the related offenses, and a fifth individual has been arrested for a separate extortion incident.

Peel’s police chief says the response seen so far is an indication of how seriously they are taking extortion in the south Asian community.