Suspect in Phuket killing of Indian gangster arrested in Canada
Thai public prosecutors on Monday thanked Canadian authorities for tracking down and arresting one of the two gunmen believed to be behind the killing of an Indian gangster in Phuket early this month.
Prayut Phetkhun, deputy spokesman of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), held a press conference on Monday morning to announce that suspect Mathew Leandre Ovide Dupre, 36, was arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, on February 20.
The alleged gunman is now in detention under the order of the Alberta Court pending a decision on Thailand’s extradition request.
Dupre is allegedly one of the two gunmen who shot dead Jimi “Slice” Sandhu in Phuket at about 10.30pm on February 4. Sandhu, an Indian gangster with a long-standing criminal record, was shot dead in the parking lot of his rented villa on Rawai Beach in Muang district.
Police later identified the two gunmen as Gene Karl Lahrkamp and Matthew Dupre, both 36 years old, and said Sandhu had been deported from Canada in 2016.
As the case developed
Also present at Monday’s press conference were Jumpol Phansamrit, director of the International Affairs Department and senior public prosecutor Indranee Sumawong.
Prayut said Chalong Police Station had obtained an arrest warrant against Dupre on February 11 upon learning that he had landed in Canada on February 6.
Jumpol told the press that the Royal Thai Police had sent the arrest warrant to the OAG on February 15 seeking Dupre’s extradition. He said public prosecutors began working on the case immediately because it was a public crime related to international gangsters.
The public prosecutors then contacted the extradition division of the Canadian public prosecutors with the help of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime’s anti-transnational crime network.
He said the Canadian side required a formal request under the 1911 Siam-Britain Treaty, as Canada is still part of the British Commonwealth.
On February 16, Thai prosecutors met their Canadian counterparts to find out what evidence was required to arrest Dupre.
The Thai prosecution team then travelled to Phuket to obtain evidence, and the OAG gave the go-ahead to send it to Canada on February 17.
The Canadian attorney-general approved the request for Dupre’s arrest and called on the Alberta authorities to seek an arrest warrant for the suspect. Dupre was arrested three days later.
Indranee said the swift arrest was possible thanks to coordination between different sides who worked round the clock.
“The OAG would like to thank the Canadian Justice Department’s extradition division, the Alberta public prosecutors, Canadian police and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime for the arrest,” Indranee said.
She added that public prosecutors will send a formal extradition request to the Alberta Court and the extradition trial may take up to one or two years.
Jumpol added that Canadian authorities have provided information about the second suspect but the information has to be withheld for now.
