An alleged war criminal was arrested in Mississauga on Friday afternoon after an off-duty Halton Regional police officer saw the suspect shopping for bathroom tiles.

The officer spotted Arshad Muhammad, 42, inside a Factory Tile Depot at 505 Queensway East, near Cawthra Road, as he was picking out tiles for a contracting job.

Mike Cappa witnessed Muhammad's arrest while he was heading home on Friday afternoon and said police surrounded the store and put Muhammad into the back seat of a police car.

Muhammad made no attempt to disguise himself and used his real name at the discount tile store, Dan, the store's owner, told CTV Toronto. The store owner did not want to give his last name.

"That's definitely what was on the quote," Dan said. "That must have been how he introduced himself. It didn't seem like he was hiding anything."

Muhammad has been linked to an Islamic organization that was involved in terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Officials say he has been in hiding in Canada for a decade.

His image was posted last week to the Canada Border Services Agency website in a list that shows 30 suspected war criminals who have allegedly snuck into Canada.

The federal government launched a program last week seeking help from the public to track down the suspects.

Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said that at least a dozen tips have come in about the suspects, who are believed to be living in Quebec, Alberta and Ontario. The government said that as many as 19 of the 30 suspects are believed to be in the Greater Toronto Area.

Currently, 28 suspects remain wanted after another man was arrested earlier this week in Alberta.

"We hope to catch them all, obviously. We hope that none of them are in our area but if they are in our area we hope to catch them," said Peel Regional police Const. Erin Cooper.

Muhammad is set to be extradited to Pakistan.

With files from CTV Toronto's Colin D'Mello