Canadian accused of killing Indian-origin gangster extradited to Thailand
Darpan News Desk IANS, 31 May, 2023 01:23 PM
Toronto, May 31 (IANS) A former Canadian soldier and alleged hitman has been extradited to Thailand where he has been charged with the murder of an Indian-origin gangster in Phuket last year, media reports said.
Matthew Dupre, 38, who allegedly gunned down Jimi 'Slice' Sandhu in February 2022, arrived in Bangkok on a special air force flight on Sunday night, The Bangkok Post reported.
Sandhu, who grew up in Abbotsford, was connected to the United Nation Gang, which was founded in the Fraser Valley in 1997.
On February 11, 2022, the Phuket court issued a warrant for the arrest of Dupre and his alleged accomplice on charges of premeditated murder, having guns and ammunition in possession without permission and illegally carrying and using the guns in public.
A police investigation later found the two suspects left Thailand for Canada on February 6, the report said.
Dupre was arrested on February 20, 2022 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) at his home in Sylvan Lake, Alberta.
His extradition was approved last December by the Court of Alberta, Edmonton, under the 1999 Extradition Act of Canada.
The second wanted suspect killer in the case died in a small-plane crash in Canada in May 2022.
Dupre denied all the charges against him, media reports said citing police officials.
The Ministry of Public Safety says Ottawa's funding will enhance 24-hour crisis hotlines run by the Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. It says the province-wide crisis lines provide risk-assessment and safety planning services to those experiencing gender-based violence.
While a 10-year-old girl was walking home from Panorama Heights Elementary school located at 1455 Johnson Street in Coquitlam, they were approached by two unknown adult females in a vehicle. The suspects asked the girl to get into the vehicle for treats. The girl ran away to a nearby Coquitlam City Bylaw officer for assistance.
R-C-M-P say officers pulled over an stolen vehicle with four people inside. They say the occupants ran away when officers told them they were under arrest, including one man who was holding what was believed to be a weapon.
Flooding on the Skeena River could reach a 20-year high as early as Wednesday, the River Forecast Centre said. The ongoing hot weather is accelerating snowmelt across most of B.C., it said, estimating that the Bulkley River near Smithers could reach 10-year flow levels by Wednesday or Thursday.
The VPD says the suspect is a South Asian man with a medium build and was wearing a black hat, sunglasses, beige cargo shorts, and a white and blue striped shirt at the time of the alleged assault.
The record for the highest May peak hourly demand was set last night, as temperatures soared across much of the province. BC-Hydro says preliminary analysis found consumption reached almost 76-hundred megawatts as residents turned to air conditioners and fans in an attempt to cool off.
