A murder suspect who had been on the run for more than a year and wanted on a Canada-wide arrest warrant was finally captured outside the country and brought to justice.
Joseph Chlala, 23, was arrested earlier this week in New York state, Edmonton police announced Friday.
Chlala was wanted in connection with a murder that occurred last summer in a newer suburb on the southern edge of the city.
On Monday, June 12, 2023, around 6:30 PM, police responded to reports of an injured man in an alley near Allard Link SW and Arthurs Crescent SW.
Officers found 21-year-old Osama Ali dead in an alley in the Allard district. An autopsy two days later revealed that he died of gunshot wounds and the case was ruled a homicide.
An alley between Allard Link and Arthurs Crescent in southwest Edmonton where a man’s body was found on Monday, June 12, 2023.
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Three months later, police obtained a Canada-wide arrest warrant for Chlala, who was wanted for first-degree murder in Ali’s death.
Homicide investigators believed Chlala and Ali knew each other and said both men were on police radar at the time before the shooting. The police characterized the death as ‘within a context of organized crime’.
Chlala was already on the run at the time of the murder.
A warrant had been issued for his arrest three months earlier in Calgary, where he had removed his tracking bracelet and failed to appear in court for sentencing in a murder case after pleading guilty to manslaughter in January 2023.
Edmonton homicide detectives have applied for a Canada-wide arrest warrant for 22-year-old Joseph Chlala for manslaughter in a June 12 shooting.
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Last week, Chlala resurfaced south of the border.
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Edmonton police said they were notified on Monday, August 5, that Chlala had been arrested by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police in Akwesasne, NY.
Ontario Provincial Police took Chlala into custody after he was deported from the United States.
“The OPP is a partner agency of the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST). Maintaining border integrity is just one aspect of the BEST mandate,” said OPP Det. Insp. Rob Johnston. “The cross-border cooperation, coordinated efforts and partnerships that exist between law enforcement agencies in Canada and the United States play an integral role in events such as these.”
Chlala was one of the suspects wanted as part of the Bolo programwhich stands for ‘Be on the lookout’.
The Bolo Program amplifies police requests for public assistance in the most wanted cases, using social media and technology to encourage citizens to search for Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Suspects are featured on billboards, social media campaigns and flyers distributed across Canada. A reward of up to $50,000 was offered for any information leading to Chlala’s arrest.
“Today, our communities are safer thanks to great police work and the entire country looking for Joseph Chlala. Together we can make our communities safer,” said Maxime Langlois, Executive Director of the Bolo Program.
The Edmonton Police Service partnered with the Bolo Program in an effort to locate Canada’s most wanted suspects, including Chlala.
“We are grateful for the awareness the Bolo program has created,” said Det. Bryan Macaulay of the EPS Homicide Unit.
“This is another great example of law enforcement agencies working together to find a suspect wanted for murder, regardless of our jurisdictional boundaries.”
The Bolo program is an initiative of the Stephan Crétier Foundation, a charitable organization founded in 2006 by the CEO of GardaWorld Security Corporation.
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