Update: Canadian hitman extradited to Thailand over Indian gangster’s murder in Phuket

Matthew Dupre, an alleged contract killer implicated in the murder of Canadian-Indian gangster Jimi Sandhu, back in February 2022, has been discreetly extradited to Thailand to face charges. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) announced that the Alberta Court in Canada agreed to send Dupre back to Thailand to face legal proceedings. Royal Thai Airforce Officers travelled to Vancouver to escort the suspect, whose plane arrived at Don Mueang International Airport on Sunday night. Over 100 Thai and Canadian officers secured the airport during the extradition process.

Matthew Dupre, a significant suspect on Interpol’s Red Notice, is a former soldier believed to be involved in transnational organised crime. He has allegedly committed crimes in several countries and has been hired as a ‘contact killer’ or gunman by various criminal organisations. Security was tightened during his transportation due to concerns that he could be targeted for assassination.

Original Story:

Jimi ‘Slice’ Sandhu, who had been deported from Canada in 2016, was traveling between Dubai and Southeast Asia until he was shot ten times in the parking zone of his beachfront villa on Rawai Beach on February 4, 2022. His body wasn’t discovered until the next day, with about 20 bullet casings found at the crime scene. The two shooters, believed to be linked to crime gangs in British Columbia and connected to the military, arrived in Phuket six weeks prior to the attack and left two days after it occurred.

CCTV recordings revealed the men, wearing white hoodies, beige shorts, and black flip-flops, walking toward Sandhu’s villa where he had just arrived in a rented red SUV. The hoodies were later found in a rubber plantation 200 meters from the crime scene. Following an investigation, one of the suspects, Matthew Dupre, was identified, and a warrant was issued for his arrest on February 11, 2022.

Dupre and his alleged accomplice, Gene Lahrkamp, had left Thailand for Canada on February 6. The Royal Thai Police requested Dupre’s extradition, leading to his arrest in Alberta, Canada, on February 20, 2022, and the Court of Alberta later approved the extradition. Lahrkamp, the second suspect in the case, died in a small-plane crash in Canada in May 2022.