Fugitive ex-Olympic snowboarder among 16 charged in connection to transnational drug trafficking, murder ring

An “Olympic athlete turned drug lord” and 15 others have been charged in a superseding indictment for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped large amounts of cocaine from Colombia to Canada via Southern California while orchestrating four murders “in furtherance” of their other crimes, officials say. 

Two Canadian men residing in Mexico – Ryan James Wedding and Andrew Clark – were previously charged in an original indictment with running a criminal enterprise, murder and conspiring to possess, distribute and export cocaine, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday. 

Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City; according to the official Olympics website, he finished 24^th in the parallel giant slalom event. 

Thursday’s superseding indictment names 14 additional co-defendants and alleges that Wedding, Clark and others conspired to ship bulk quantities of cocaine weighing hundreds of kilograms from SoCal to Canada through a Canada-based drug transportation network run by Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, both residents of Ontario, Canada. 

“The cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area where the organization’s operatives would store it in stash houses before delivering it to the transportation network couriers from transportation to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks,” the Department of Justice stated. 

Many times, officials said, the group would turn to violence – including multiple murders – to achieve its aims. 

Wedding and Clark allegedly directed the murders of two Ontario, Canada, family members in November 2023 due to a drug shipment that was stolen in Southern California; another member of that family survived the shooting but was left with serious injuries, the DOJ said. 

In another incident this past May, both men allegedly ordered the murder of another victim over a drug debt. Clark and another man – 23-year-old Canada resident Malik Damion Cunningham – are charged with the April 1 murder of another victim in Ontario, Canada. 

Wedding, 43, the lead defendant in the superseding indictment and whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy,” is charged with eight felonies: 

• Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances (two counts) 

• Conspiracy to distribute cocaine 

• Leading a continuing criminal enterprise 

• Murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime (three counts) 

• Attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime 

The official Olympics website also states that in 2006, Wedding was named in a search warrant in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, that was investigated for growing large quantities of marijuana but he was never charged. However, he was convicted of attempting to buy cocaine from a U.S. government agent in 2008, and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Clark, 34, also known by the alias “The Dictator,” faces the same eight charges plus an additional count of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime. 

While Clark was arrested by Mexican law enforcement on Oct. 8, Wedding remains a fugitive, the DOJ confirmed. 

In an update issued early Thursday afternoon, the FBI identified and released photos of three additional fugitives with alleged ties to the transnational drug trafficking ring: Anselmo Acuna “El Perro” Garcia, Joel Sosa Cardenas and Gennadii “John” Bilonog.

All three men had a federal warrant issued for them on Sept. 17, the FBI said.

Throughout their investigation, law enforcement officials have seized more than one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in cash and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency.

The superseding indictment states that the organization delivered 646 pounds of cocaine to representatives of Ratte and Singh in Canada in March and that a shipment of 827 pounds of cocaine was intercepted the following month. 

“In total, several defendants possessed a total of approximately 1.8 metric tons of cocaine,” the superseding indictment read. 

Those 1.8 metric tons of cocaine have a street value between $23.4 and $25.2 million in L.A., officials said.

Several of the defendants arrested are expected to make court appearances within the coming week in Los Angeles, Michigan and Miami. 

If convicted as charged, Wedding, Clark and Cunningham would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in prison for the murder and attempted murder charges. The continuing criminal enterprise charges also carry a mandatory minimum of life in federal prison, while the drug trafficking charges carry mandatory minimum penalties between 10 and 15 years. 

United States Attorney Martin Estrada was among several federal and international law enforcement officials present at a press conference Thursday announcing the arrests and denouncing the fugitive, cold-blooded ringleader.

“Instead of using the privileges of being an Olympic athlete to do good for people, he did the opposite,” Estrada said. “He chose to become a major drug trafficker, and he chose to become a killer.”

Chris Leather, the Chief Superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, declared the arrests and seizure of drugs “a major victory.”

“I firmly believe this is a major victory in our ongoing battle against organized crime and the illicit drug trade,” he said. “The individuals behind this network have been a persistent threat to Canada and our allies for a number of years.”

The billion-dollar criminal enterprise was one of the largest importers of cocaine in North America before being dismantled, officials added at Thursday’s press conference.

The FBI considers Ryan Wedding to be armed and dangerous, and they are offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his apprehension and extradition.