A young man arrested during a traffic stop last summer has been charged following an investigation by B.C.’s Provincial Extortion Task Force.

Authorities said the 22-year-old foreign national was found with two loaded handguns in his vehicle when officers from the Metro Vancouver Transit Police stopped him in Surrey on Aug. 10.

The task force was launched the following month, and took over the case due to “a possible nexus to extortion-related activities,” the B.C. RCMP said in a news release Wednesday.

Months later, on June 17, prosecutors approved two counts of occupying a vehicle with a firearm present against Daljot Rehal.

In a statement, Chief Supt. Duncan Pound of the RCMP’s Lower Mainland District said the charges highlight the “effectiveness of close collaboration among policing partners.”

“By maintaining a strong presence in communities and a co-ordinated, strategic approach to intelligence sharing, we’re able to gather critical information, get guns off the streets and advance investigations,” Pound said.

An RCMP spokesperson told CTV News the force could not comment on whether investigators are still looking into potential ties to extortion activity.

After Rehal was charged, a warrant was issued to bring him back into custody. Authorities said they located the accused in Abbotsford and arrested him Tuesday.

He remains in custody pending his next court appearance, the RCMP said.