Reward offered for arrest of fugitive in Thailand murder of BC gangster


Gene Karl Lahrkamp, ​​36, returned to Canada after Sandhu was gunned down outside his beachfront villa on the island of Phuket in the early hours of Feb. 5.

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A national program has offered a $100,000 reward for the capture of a BC man who is charged with killing former Vancouver gangster Jimi Sandhu in Thailand in February.

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Gene Karl Lahrkamp, ​​36, returned to Canada after Sandhu was gunned down outside his beachfront villa on the island of Phuket in the early hours of Feb. 5.

Lahrkamp owns a house in Trail, where he had been living and breeding dogs before the murder of Sandhu, a high-level United Nations gangster who grew up in Abbotsford.

The home of accused hitman Gene Lahrkamp, ​​at 2000 Lookout St. in Trail, was searched by police on Feb. 15. His whereabouts are unknown.
The home of accused hitman Gene Lahrkamp, ​​at 2000 Lookout St. in Trail, was searched by police on Feb. 15. His whereabouts are unknown. Photo by Jennifer Small/Special to PNG /PNG

Sandhu had been deported from Canada for serious criminality, but maintained his influence within his criminal organization both here and abroad.

The BOLO program — short for ‘be on the lookout’ — announced a top 25 list of fugitives and rewards at a Toronto news conference Tuesday. Lahrkamp was in the second spot behind an accused Toronto killer charged with shooting a stranger to death.

Lahrkamp’s co-accused Matthew Dupre, also 36, was arrested in Sylvan Lake, Alberta in late February and is awaiting an extradition hearing.

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Both men are ex-Canadian military.

BOLO offers rewards and does national and international media campaigns in an attempt to locate high-profile Canadian fugitives.

Founded in 2018, BOLO did a campaign to locate UN gang leader Conor D’Monte, wanted in BC for a 2009 murder. D’Monte was finally arrested in Puerto Rico in late February after 11 years on the run. Canada has filed an application with the US government for his extradition of him.

Another BC fugitive — John Norman MacKenzie, 61, made the top 25 list. He is wanted for being unlawfully at large after escaping from Mission Institution.

John Norman MacKenzie, 61, is wanted for being unlawfully at large after escaping from the Mission Institution.
John Norman MacKenzie, 61, is wanted for being unlawfully at large after escaping from the Mission Institution. Photo by Handout

BOLO program director Max Langlois said Tuesday that the top 25 list is “a first-of-its-kind initiative that brings together information about most wanted suspects from across the country.”

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“The top 25 list is a living document that will be updated frequently. Fugitives will be removed and added as arrests occur and additional police partnerships are formed; a variety of jurisdictions and crimes will always be highlighted,” he said.

The list was compiled in co-ordination with police agencies across Canada including the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which has an on-going investigation into Lahrkamp and Dupre.

Metro Vancouver Crime Stoppers executive director Linda Annis said the BOLO campaign should help attract “extra attention” to the BC suspects on the

“These two fugitives, and the rest on the top 25 list, are accused of serious crimes,” she said. “Crime Stoppers stands ready to take anonymous tips on any information that will help find them.”

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