The Surrey Police Service (SPS) says it has arrested a foreign national who was wanted on an INTERPOL Red Notice for murder in another country.
Ian MacDonald, SPS media liaison, says Amritpal Singh Bath was arrested during a traffic stop in the city’s Whalley neighbourhood on Oct. 8.
An SPS officer was working in the city’s Whalley neighbourhood around 8:20 p.m. when he noticed a car driving erratically, MacDonald says.
The officer pulled the car over to check if the driver was impaired.
“While he was interacting with the driver and the passenger, the passenger purported to be going by the name of Harpreet Singh and in fact produced ID in that name,” MacDonald said.
“The ID did not look genuine, and it caused our officer to probe additionally and ultimately found out that the individual’s name was Amritpal Singh Bath.”
The officer searched the name in the police database and that’s when he discovered the man was wanted by INTERPOL, MacDonald says.
“At roadside, he detained the individual, made contact with CBSA [Canadian Border Services Agency] and confirmed that there was a Red Notice via INTERPOL for an arrest warrant related to a homicide in another country,” he said.
“He took custody of that individual, ultimately turned him over to CBSA, and effectively took somebody who was not just a danger potentially to Canadian citizens, but already a danger internationally off the streets of Surrey.”
MacDonald says authorities had not been aware that Bath was in Canada. It also wasn’t clear whether the driver knew the passenger was wanted.
INTERPOL, which stands for International Criminal Police Organization, is the world’s largest international police organization. A Red Notice is a request sent to law enforcement agencies around the world, advising them to provisionally arrest the individual who is the subject of the notice.
“For INTERPOL to put a notice, basically a warrant, worldwide, that someone is a danger and a risk, it is a pretty big deal,” MacDonald said.
The SPS says Bath remains in CBSA custody.
