Five men have been charged with aiding in the breakout from jail of organized crime figure Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil three years ago.
The RCMP said it cannot confirm media reports that Alkhalil, 38, was arrested Friday in Qatar — more than three years after he walked out the front door of a B.C. jail while serving time for murdering a GTA man on a crowded patio on College Street.
Also known as “Robby,” Alkhalil is a leader of the Wolfpack Alliance, a confederation of crime groups heavily involved in cocaine importation with some members linked to the Hells Angels.
The RCMP would not comment on whether the five were connected to the corrections system.
Two live in Ottawa and three are from B.C., the RCMP said.
RCMP say charges have been laid against three men who allegedly helped convicted gangland double murderer Rabih Alkhalil escape a B.C. pretrial facility in 2022. They say they also foiled plans for another unrelated killing in the process. (Sep. 8, 2025)
The Canadian PressAlkhalil vanished from the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam, B.C., on July 21, 2022, while serving a life term for the execution-style murder of Johnny Raposo at the Sicilian Sidewalk Café in ɫɫ in 2012.
ɫɫ court heard that Raposo was murdered in a dispute about importing a 200-kilogram shipment of cocaine.
After he vanished, Alkhalil topped the Most Wanted List for Canada, called the BOLO or “Be on the lookout” list.
Alkhalil was convicted in absentia of conspiring to murder longtime rivals Sandip Duhre and Sukh Dhak, both in 2012.
His arrest shocked former gang rival Shane Dankoski, who was once a member of the rival United Nations Gang in B.C.
“He’s extremely dangerous,” said Dankoski, a former convict. “Money is power, and he’s got a lot of that, money and power.”
Dankoski believes Alkhalil needed “help from the inside” to escape.
Dankoski noted that Hells Angel Larry Amero was in the same jail at the same time, and no one broke him out.
Amero was convicted on Aug. 29, 2022, of two counts of conspiracy to commit murder regarding the Duhre and Dhak murders.
“Larry Amero is one of the most prominent Hells Angels in Canada, maybe even North America,” Dankoski said. “The Hells Angels couldn’t set up and execute for Larry.”
Dankoski said it would have cost an enormous amount of money to get Alkhalil freed.
Alkhalil has an extensive criminal record beyond the College Street murder, including two convictions for first-degree murder.
He walked out of the jail with two men, all were dressed as contractors and drove away in a white Econoline van.
Someone tinkered with the building’s camera system, so that police posted the wrong pictures on the internet when they announced his escape.
B.C. authorities have not announced any review of security or procedures in Alkhalil’s escape. The Star was denied any information on the escape or efforts to improve safety in a freedom of information search.
In addition to the two first-degree murder convictions, Alkhalil now also faces charges for forcible prison break with the intent to free himself and for escaping lawful custody.
Alkhalil, who once ran an upscale women’s clothing boutique in Old Montreal, had already been convicted of running a major cocaine importation network in Quebec.
“Investigators are dealing with the possibility that Alkhalil is trying to flee by using his connections across Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia,” the RCMP said a day after Alkhalil’s escape.
Alkhalil was three years old when he arrived in Canada with his family from Saudi Arabia in 1990, seeking refugee protection.
Canadian authorities concluded they were stateless, and citizens of no country.
Alkhalil’s father lost his home during the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. His father first fled to a refugee camp in Lebanon and eventually resettled in Saudi Arabia.
The family eventually settled in Surrey, B.C., with some members moving to Ottawa.
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