A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder is among 16 people wanted by police in relation to a drug trafficking operation and four murders, and there’s a reward for his arrest.
The defendants, including multiple Canadians, have been charged in a 16-count superseding indictment for allegedly operating and taking part in a drug trafficking scheme believed to be responsible for regularly shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine to Canada and the United States, according to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office.
Two Canadians residing in Mexico, Ryan James Wedding, 43, and Andrew Clark, 34, were already charged in the original indictment with running a continuing criminal enterprise, murder, and conspiring to possess, distribute, and export cocaine. Wedding is a former pro snowboarder who represented Canada during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Wedding has not won any Olympic medals.
“As alleged in the indictment, an Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord is now charged with leading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.
The first superseding indictment, which was unsealed on Oct. 16, also names 14 additional co-defendants. The indictment alleges that Wedding, Clark, and others worked together to ship hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Southern California to Canada through a Canada-based drug transportation network. Authorities allege the network was operated from approximately January 2024 to August 2024 by Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, both from Ontario.
The drugs were allegedly shipped from Mexico to the Los Angeles, California area, before being driven up to Canada via long-haul transport trucks.
Wedding is the indictment’s lead defendant and is charged with eight felonies, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime, among others.
Clark is charged with the samefelonies, plus an additional count of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
Wedding, and another Canadian charged in the investigation, Gennadii Bilonog, remain at large. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to Wedding’s apprehension, arrest, and extradition.
Meanwhile, Singh and Ratte were arrested in Ontario this week, plus Rakhim Ibragimov, and Malik Cunningham, according to the RCMP. They are pending extradition.
Additionally, three Canadians were also arrested stateside, including Nahim Jorge Bonilla, Ranjit Singh Rowal, and Iqbal Singh Virk.
FOUR PEOPLE BELIEVED TO BE KILLED IN RELATION TO TRAFFICKING OPERATION
Wedding and the other accused are also facing allegations of resorting to violence during the trafficking operation, leading to the deaths of four people.
“As alleged in the superseding indictment, the organization resorted to violence – including multiple murders – to achieve its aims,” reads the release, which alleges that Wedding and Clark allegedly directed the murders of two family members in Ontario on November 20, 2023. The two people are said to have been killed in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment. Another member of the same family was also injured in the shooting but survived.
Wedding and Clark are also accused of directing the murder of someone over a drug debt on May 18, 2024.
Meanwhile, Clark and fellow Canadian Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, are charged with the April 2024 murder of another person in Ontario.
During the investigation, which was carried out by various agencies throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Colombia, law enforcement seized more than a ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 USD, and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency.
Officials say the network is believed to have delivered around 293 kilograms of cocaine to representatives of Ratte and Singh for eventual shipment to and distribution in Canada in March of this year. Then in April, the organization allegedly tried to deliver approximately 375.1 kilograms of cocaine to the representatives, however, this shipment was intercepted by investigators who seized the cocaine. Officials say several defendants possessed a total of around 1,800 kilograms of cocaine.
If convicted, Wedding, Clark, and Cunningham would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on the murder, attempted murder, and continuing criminal enterprise charges. Additionally, the drug trafficking charges carry mandatory minimum penalties of 10-15 years in prison.
