A murder in Phuket: B.C. gang conflict moves overseas
PHUKET, Thailand — Jimi Sandhu didn’t look concerned about a thing as he parked his red rental car behind the luxury villa where he was staying just north of Friendship Beach here in Phuket. It was 10:32 p.m. on Feb. 4, 2022. The temperature had fallen to a comfortable 26 C from the midday high of 33. He casually got out of the driver’s seat, wearing a light-coloured T-shirt, shorts, and flip flops, before reaching back into the MG ZS car to grab a few things from the centre console and sun visor. As he shut the car door and turned toward Villa A, his killers burst from around a corner and opened fire. He had no time to react, nowhere to run.
Within seconds, he fell on his back, struck 10 times. The gunmen fled, leaving dozens of shell casings scattered across the paving stones. His death was captured on the security camera outside the villa.
He moved from Punjab to Abbotsford at the age of seven to live with his grandmother. He never obtained Canadian citizenship. By his teen years, Sandhu was getting into trouble — first at school and later with police. Convictions for violent assaults in 2010 and 2012 paved the way for his eventual expulsion.
His killing, allegedly the result of a conspiracy hatched more than 12,000 kilometres away in Canada, symbolizes the new international reach of what were once mid-level criminals involved in the drug trade back home.
Sandhu had been travelling in and out of Phuket since 2016. At the time of his death, was also wanted in India for trafficking, had just been banned from Malaysia, and had spent stretches of time in Vietnam, Postmedia has learned.
