Man on the Run From Ontario Police for 3 Years Arrested in a Colombia Gym

An Ontario Provincial Police logo is seen during a press conference in Barrie, Ont., on April 3, 2019. The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette

A man who had been wanted on a Canada-wide warrant since 2023 was arrested in Colombia after three years on the run, the Ontario Provincial Police said on July 10.

Arif Jhuman, 39, had been at large since Jan. 24, 2023, when he breached full parole while serving a nine-year, 11-month sentence for drug-trafficking offences.

A joint operation between the Colombia’s National Police Anti-Narcotics Directorate, Interpol, and other international agencies led to Jhuman’s arrest on July 8. Jhuman, who is also wanted in the United States, had been living in Colombia under the alias “Gillani” and may have entered the country using false documents, Medellin Mayor Fico Gutiérrez said in a post to X.

“Here we work hand in hand with national and international authorities to stop transnational criminal organizations. Here we have the authority, intelligence, and cooperation to find them and bring them to justice,” Gutiérrez wrote.

In the post, Gutiérrez shared a video of Jhuman being arrested by armoured police officers at a Medellin gym.

Jhuman and four others are wanted in the United States in connection with an investigation into “conspiracy to traffic firearms, trafficking in firearms, and dealing firearms with a license,” according to a news release issued by a U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida in December 2025. Of more than 100 firearms trafficked from Florida to Canada in 2023 and 2024, 29 were recovered from Canadian crime scenes, including homicides, the release said.

While police did not provide details about how Jhuman became unlawfully at large, full parole in Canada does not mean offenders have completed their sentence. It is a form of release that allows offenders to serve part of their sentence in the community during which they must follow certain conditions and are supervised by parole officers, according to Correctional Service Canada.

Offenders under full parole are not required to return nightly to an institution, but they must report regularly to a parole supervisor, and in certain cases to the police. The conditions are intended to reduce the risk of re-offending and to foster reintegration of the offender into the community.

Police also did not give details about how much of his nine year, 11-month sentence Jhuman had served. However, offenders are typically eligible to apply for full parole after serving either a third of their sentence or seven years, whichever is less—except in the case of those serving life sentences for first-degree murder.

Those serving sentences for first-degree murder must serve 25 years before applying for parole, while those serving sentences for second-degree murder can apply after serving a period of between 10 and 25 years, as set by the court.