In Burnaby, B.C., police investigating the rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl staged an undercover operation at a Kurdish New Year’s celebration in hopes of capturing the perpetrator whose identity was at that point completely unknown.
After DNA analysis from the crime scene suggested the suspect was likely Kurdish, the RCMP posed as market researchers for a fake beverage company at the ethnic cultural festival. Undercover officers served tea to festivalgoers at random in more than 140 disposable cups, which were then discarded, swabbed and analyzed. The DNA found on the cups included the brother of the suspect – a key step that allowed authorities to later arrest and convict the killer.
