Police announce new project to prevent violence, extortion targeting Montreal businesses

Montreal police's arson squad is investigating after a fire was set at the Voodoo Lounge in LaSalle on April 28, 2025. (Scott Prouse/CTV News)

As the fight against extortion targeting Montreal businesses continues, police say a new initiative is already showing promising results in preventing crime before it occurs.

The new project, Aurora, incorporates ongoing “structured monitoring” of online platforms where contracts are given out for arsons, shootings, or home invasions, in many cases to teenagers.

For more than six weeks, Montreal police says it stepped up its monitoring efforts to look for “coded language” and imminent crime risks on these platforms.

So far, the force says it has arrested 20 people, many of whom are between the ages of 14 and 17.

In announcing the Aurora project on Thursday, police revealed screenshots of private exchanges on WhatsApp showing how these contracts are posted.

The screenshots show criminals use an app’s disappearing messages function, which automatically deletes sent messages for everyone in the chat after a selected duration — one of the app’s privacy features.

• Sign up now for daily CTV News Montreal newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

“Aurora is already demonstrating the power of our teams’ collaborative work,” said Cmdr. Francis Renaud, head of the Montreal police’s organized crime section, in a news release.

“By combining the expertise of our various units around a single digital watch, we are able to disrupt criminal networks before they take action. The results exceed our expectations and confirm the effectiveness of this new approach.”

According to police, the youth who are recruited to carry out these criminal acts on businesses rarely receive the money they are promised, pointing to the “unstable and deceptive” nature of the clandestine online exchanges.

“Individuals who use social media to offer or accept criminal contracts must know that these platforms no longer protect them. Our investigative tools and techniques allow us to track them down, and they will be held accountable for their actions in court,” said Det. Sgt. Maya Alieh of the SPVM’s specialized cyber investigations unit, in the release.

The extortion problem has taken a toll on Montreal-area businesses, particularly in the last couple of years.

In the spring of 2025, more than 150 police officers participated in a major operation that ended with the arrest of 13 suspects for extortion-related crimes at local restaurants.

Police are reminding business owners to never give in to criminals’ demands for money and to contact the authorities right away.