Montreal bike police arrest one of America’s most wanted criminals

Bicycle riding police in Montreal apprehended one of the United States most wanted criminals on Aug. 23 as first reported by CBC News. Katay-Khaophone Sychanta, 35, was apprehended on a bike path near Bois-Franc train station in the city’s borough of Saint-Laurent last week by two bicycle-mounted police officers.

Sychanta is a Laos-born alleged drug smuggler who is on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement list of its 10 most wanted criminals. Following his arrest he was arraigned on charges of drug possession, obstruction of the work of police and using false documents. He was first indicted in 2005 in Michigan. Sychnata evaded capture on drug charges in the U.S. and has continued to supervise a drug-smuggling organization based near Windosr, Ontario.

Montreal police say Sychanta and a second man were suspected of possession drugs by two bicycle mounted patrolling officers on the bike path in Saint-Laurent. He tried to flee on foot but one of the officers dismounted and chased him down on foot. After being apprehended, Sychanta gave the police officers fake U.S. identification. With the help of fingerprinting, he was later identified as a wanted drug criminal on the U.S. most wanted list.

“Luckily, with the identification we were able to locate a man that was wanted for three years,” said Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant to the CBC.

Sychanta faces charges in Ontario and in the U.S. He appeared in court on Aug. 24. He has since been transfered to Ontario Provincial Police and could face extradition to the U.S.