Interpol Issues Red Notice for Phuket Hitmen

A still from CCTV footage showing one of the suspects leaving Thailand at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Feb. 6, 2022.
A still from CCTV footage showing one of the suspects leaving Thailand at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Feb. 6, 2022.

BANGKOK — Police on Monday said a request for the arrest of two Canadian nationals who gunned down a compatriot a week ago on the resort island of Phuket was issued by the Interpol.

Maj. Gen. Khemarin Hatsiri, chief of the Royal Thai Police’s foreign affairs division, said the Interpol issued the “Red Notice” against Gene Karl Lahrkamp, 36, and Matthew Leandre Ovide Dupre, 36, on Sunday. The pair is wanted in Thailand for colluding in murder of Canadian passport holder Jimi Singh Sandhu in front of his beachfront villa in Phuket on Feb. 4.

Khaosod English obtained a copy of the Red Notice, which has been confirmed as genuine by police, on Monday, but such notice could not be found on the network’s public database as of publication time.

A screenshot of Interpol Red Notice for Gene Karl Lahrkamp.
A screenshot of Interpol Red Notice for Gene Karl Lahrkamp.

According to the notice, the two suspects planted a GPS tracking device on the victim’s car the day before the killing. When the victim returned to his residence on the following day, the suspects opened fire on the victim and then escaped. Investigators managed to trace the men’s movement with CCTV cameras and were able to recover the weapons, which linked them to the crime.

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A screenshot of Interpol Red Notice for Matthew Leandre Ovide Dupre.
A screenshot of Interpol Red Notice for Matthew Leandre Ovide Dupre.

Police believed Sandhu, who was a member of a Canada-based criminal gang involving with drugs, was killed in gang violence. Immigration records show the suspects entered Thailand on Dec. 18 before leaving the country on Feb. 6, two days after the murder.

Maj. Gen. Khemarin said the notice was already circulated to all the member states of the international police cooperation agency to locate and detain the suspects for an extradition back to Thailand, though he admitted the chance is slim due to Thailand’s death penalty for murder.

“There’s a possibility that if the two suspects are arrested in Canada, they may not be sent to Thailand to be put on trial because Thailand has death penalty. Canada has no capital punishment and they are against it,” Khemarin said. “It’s hard for us to guarantee that Thailand won’t execute them when the court has yet to try them.”

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He also worried about the suspects’ safety now that their identities have been revealed, but for prospective ordinary travelers to Thailand, they can rest assure that they will be safe, he said.

“The victim’s underlings must be very angry,” he said.

“Our country is a safe zone. This is a targeted hit job, and no other crimes were committed. It doesn’t mean our country is not safe.”