Police are seeking an INTERPOL Red Notice for a 60-year-old truck driver recently sentenced for smuggling 80 kilograms of cocaine into British Columbia and later fleeing to India before his court hearing.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) arrested Raj Kumar Mehmi in 2017 after discovering 80 sealed bricks of cocaine — worth $3.2 million at the time — hidden inside his semi-trailer truck as he crossed the Canada-U.S. Pacific Highway border crossing, say police.
In September 2022, Mehmi was found guilty of importing a controlled substance and of possession for the purpose of trafficking. The next month, police say he fled to New Delhi, India.
On Nov. 16, 2023, a Surrey court sentenced Mehmi in absentia to 15 years in prison, plus a lifetime ban on firearms and other restricted weapons.
Mehmi currently faces a Canada-wide arrest warrant. Police are also seeking an INTERPOL Red Notice, which would request that other law enforcement bodies around the world locate and provisionally arrest Mehmi, said Cpl. Arash Seyed of the BC RCMP Federal Serious & Organized Crime (FSOC) in a statement Wednesday.
Should Mehmi be found and arrested on the Red Notice, Mehmi would likely face an extradition hearing prior to his surrender to Canadian law enforcement.
RCMP are asking anyone who sees or has information about Mehmi whereabouts to contact local police or report what is known anonymously to the BC Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-222-8477.
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