Some business owners say arson, extortion threats are driving them out of Winnipeg

CBC

7 days ago

A recent string of alleged extortions has some business owners and workers in central Winnipeg neighbourhoods fearing for their safety, saying they're being threatened with arson and violence if they don't hand over money.
Some believe it's one group leading a criminal scheme, and they're growing frustrated that those responsible haven't been stopped.
Jay Delaney's family has security footage of a break-in at Thida's Thai Restaurant, which they own, on Donald Street off Broadway in the early hours of July 4. In the footage, a masked man breaks through the glass with a hammer and tries to light a fire at a booth table, while a second person in a dark hoodie stands outside.
Moments later, the man briefly lowers his mask revealing a mustache under a pair of sunglasses, and throws a Molotov cocktail inside the restaurant. Thida's survives largely unscathed apart from the smashed windows.
Two weeks later around the same time, at 4:30 a.m. on July 18, the family's other business in the Sargent Park neighbourhood, Mae Sunee Thai Cuisine, was also set on fire.
This time, they weren't as fortunate. The restaurant was so badly damaged by the fire and water from the firefighting response, it will be closed for about a year, Delaney said on Monday.
"It really sucks for us. We lost our business, but knowing how that feels, if we can just stop them from doing the next one, at least someone else doesn't have to go through that," he said.
Around the time of these fires, other businesses in the city's North End reported being threatened with arson and violence if they didn't pay up, as the Winnipeg Free Press first reported.
Delaney connected with about 10 stores through a group chat, and after speaking with them and reviewing video surveillance, he said he believes the cases are linked.
"What move are they going to make next?" he said.
Delaney says his family has received social media threats since the fire at Thida's and has fled the city.
"They've just got to the point where they're just scared."
Arson, threats
A couple of days before the fire at Mae Sunee, stores in the North End were visited by a group of four men. CBC has obtained and reviewed security footage of multiple incidents in the last month.
On July 16, the group appeared in a convenience store on Main Street, where they gave an employee a note with a phone number on it for the owner to call.
"Make sure we get a call," one man can be heard telling the employee. He goes on to say that if they don't hear back within a day, they'll be back and might burn the place down.
Later that afternoon, a group visits a different convenience store nearby. An employee there can be heard raising his voice from behind the counter, saying he's calling the police and that he's being threatened.
Early on July 18, a group was captured on video surveillance behind the store, starting a fire. Based on their footwear, business owners believe at least one of the people was among the original group that threatened the worker two days earlier.
The owner of nearby Selkirk Quickie Mart told CBC at least two of the same men arrived at his store in a car in the early hours of July 23, then attempted to break in and set it on fire. That was followed by a threat that they would be back to burn the place down, Ahmed Muhammad said last week.
He says he's been getting calls and texts for weeks, demanding money — up to $500,000. Muhammad says the threats began after people repeatedly came to his store asking for him and obtained his phone number.
"It went from little threats to burning down my business, saying they're going to kill my family if I go to the police," he said.
Muhammad says the family fears for their safety and have also left the city.
"It's a scary time. I'm not coming back until they're arrested," he said.
The list
Selkirk Quickie Mart, along with other locations, appear on a handwritten list that CBC obtained a copy of.
The original list was given to one of the affected businesses by two people claiming to have been hired as drivers by a group from Montreal behind the arsons, but the drivers did not get paid.
Delaney's family restaurants aren't on the list, but he said he believes the cases are connected. Back in May, he first heard from Mae Sunee staff about strangers asking for the owner, who were later involved in a commotion where police were called.
Extortions have risen dramatically in Winnipeg since 2020, a year in which 26 incidents were recorded, according to data from Statistics Canada. In 2023, that number jumped to 198, and in 2024, it rose even further to 235.
On Tuesday, Edmonton police warned the South Asian community of extortions in that city, and in June, Montreal police arrested 13 people accused of extorting restaurant owners for money.
Delaney has heard of extortions happening in other Canadian cities but never in Winnipeg. He feels frustrated by what he sees as a lack of police progress in this city.
"Everything's captured, which is why I'm really in shock that like, why haven't the police made any arrests yet?" he said.
"You have a licence plate. You have their full face on video after video, and audio after audio at several different stores and still, as far as we know from the news, not made any arrests."
In an emailed statement, Winnipeg police say they're investigating multiple arsons and break-ins but can't "speak to any connections between the incidents," because the investigations are ongoing.