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Canadian fugitive arrested while at the gym in Colombia after 3 years on the run

Police say Jhuman had been unlawfully at large since Jan. 24, 2023.
Police say Jhuman had been unlawfully at large since Jan. 24, 2023. OPP / Handout

Ontario Provincial Police say a federal offender who had been unlawfully at large since January 2023 has been arrested in Colombia.

The OPP said Arif Jhuman was located and arrested in Medellín by Colombian police.

Police say Jhuman had been unlawfully at large since Jan. 24, 2023.

According to authorities, Jhuman is serving a sentence of nine years and 11 months for multiple drug-related offences, including possession of Schedule I or II substances for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking in a Schedule I or II substance, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Jhuman was named in a U.S. Department of Justice indictment in 2025 alleging his involvement in an international firearms trafficking conspiracy. Prosecutors in Florida accused him and four other suspects, including two fellow Canadians, of trafficking and conspiring to traffic more than 100 firearms from Florida to Canada between 2023 and 2024.

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According to the DOJ, 29 of those firearms were later recovered at crime scenes across Canada, including in homicide investigations.

In a video posted to social media by Medellin Mayor Federico Gutiérrez and Medellin police, heavily armed police are seen taking Jhuman into custody at a gym.

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“Medellín is not a refuge for criminals. In a joint operation by the National Police’s Directorate of Anti-Narcotics, coordinated with Interpol and international agencies, Arif Jhuman, also known as “Gillani,” a Canadian citizen wanted by U.S. authorities for his alleged involvement in an international drug and weapons trafficking network, was arrested in Medellín,” Gutiérrez wrote.

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“He allegedly entered Colombia using false documents and was facing charges related to an alleged conspiracy to traffic more than 100 firearms between the United States and Canada.”

 

 

 

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