THAI Police will oppose bail for Matthew Dupre, one of the two alleged killers of Indian gangster Jimi Sandhu, who was gunned down in Rawai, Phuket, on February 4.
Dupre was arrested in Edmonton, Alberta, on February 20, and is being held in detention by the Alberta court, pending a decision on Thailand’s extradition request.
Bangkok Post reported on Monday that Police Colonel Wirachan Khunchaikaew, chief investigator, said that documents for extradition are on their way to Canada.
Thai police will ask the Canadian court to refuse bail to Dupre for fear that he will abscond. Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) Commissioner Police Lt-General Jirabhop Bhuridej said police are determined to have the suspect extradited to stand trial in Thailand, Bangkok Post reported.
The newspaper said that sources said that Dupre’s extradition is expected in April. “The crime showed links to organised crime syndicates and the suspects had planned their escape well. They fled to Europe before travelling to Canada. War weapons also were used in the attack,” the source told Bangkok Post.
(The two guns that Thai police recovered from the shallow waters off Rawai beach by using metal detectors — a CZ 9mm semi-automatic pistol and a Walther 9mm fully automatic — were registered to Thai nationals, a retired policeman and a soldier.)
Prayuth Petchkhun, the deputy spokesman of the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), had earlier told the media that Dupre left Phuket for Canada on February 6 and an arrest warrant was issued for him on February 11.The Royal Thai Police Office contacted the OAG seeking his extradition four days later. The Alberta Court issued an arrest warrant for him on February 17.
The VOICE had reported online on February 13 that Thai police had identified the alleged killers of Sandhu as Canadian nationals Gene Karl Lahrkamp, 36, and Matthew Leandre Ovide Dupre, 36, and had issued arrest warrants for them. Thai media reported that the police contacted Interpol on February 12 to request a Red Notice for their arrest.
Canadian police on February 15 searched a rural Trail property that belongs to Lahrkamp from where he was running his dog-breeding company Mountain Mal’s. One media report confirmed from the Canadian military that both Lahrkamp and Dupre rose to the rank of corporal with the former serving from 2005 to 2013 and the latter from 2012 to 2018.
Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. (CFSEU-BC) confirmed to The VOICE at the time that the CFSEU-BC was “assisted by our RCMP partners there in executing search warrants and it was in relation to an ongoing investigation.”
But she would not say what the investigation was about.
Sources told The VOICE that police were at this stage investigating the conspiracy part of Sandhu’s murder because that would have taken place in Canada – “so they are investigating the Canadian crime that allegedly happened here.”
Police sources had confirmed to The VOICE that Sandhu still had connections here even after being deported from Canada in early 2016. He had been suspected of killing Red Scorpions’ gang leader Matthew Campbell, 31, of Abbotsford in January 2014.
Sources said he was aligned with the UN Gang that is in conflict with the Brothers Keepers. This was expected to trigger some retaliation.
In 2018, Sandhu was jailed in India after India’s Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted what it called an international drug syndicate that manufactured the date rape drug, ketamine, worth Rs. 250 million [$5 million] every month. Apparently, when Sandhu was on bail, he left India.
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Canadian Police investigating the conspiracy part in homicide of Jimi Sandhu in Thailand
