Alleged contract killer Matthew Dupre, wanted for the shooting of Indian gangster Jimi Sandhu in Phuket on Feb 4, 2022, has been quietly extradited to Thailand to face a murder charge.
Last week, 10 members of the CSD’s Hanuman special weapons and tactics unit led by Pol Col Wichak Tarom, a deputy CSD commander, and 30 members of a Royal Thai Air Force special operations unit, left Don Mueang airport on a special Airbus A340 flight for Vancouver, Canada, to bring Dupre back to Thailand.
The special flight, with Dupre on board, returned to Thailand and landed at Don Mueang airport’s Wing 6 terminal on Sunday night about 11pm.
The airport was under tight security and temporarily closed. The flight was met by about 30 other members of the Hanuman unit and RTAF ground security.
From the airport, the suspect was taken by motorcade to CSD headquarters. His detention is now under the supervision of the Central Investigation Bureau.
About 10.30pm on Feb 4, 2022, two foreign men shot Indian mobster Jimi Singh (Slice) Sandhu dead in the parking lot of his rented beachfront villa on Rawai beach in Muang district of Phuket. The killers were filmed entering the villa by a security camera.
Phuket and CSD police investigators identified Dupre as one of the suspects.
On Feb 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 Feb 6.
The Royal Thai Police foreign affairs division on Feb 15 sent a letter to the Office of the Attorney General along with the arrest warrants. The OAG was asked to coordinate with Canada for the extradition of Dupre under the Extradition Act of 2008.
The OAG subsequently took action as requested.
The Alberta Provincial Court in Canada issued a warrant for Dupre’s arrest at the request of the attorney general’s office of Alberta.
Dupre was arrested on on Feb 20, 2022 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at his home in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, near Red Deer.
The Court of Alberta at Edmonton laterapproved the extradition of Dupre to Thailand under the 1999 Extradition Act of Canada.
The second wanted suspect killer in the case, Gene Lahrkamp, 36, died in a small-plane crash in Canada in May 2022.