Former Canadian Olympic snowboarder charged by FBI for drug trafficking, homicides

CITYnews halifax / By John Marchesan

The FBI has charged two Canadians including a former Olympic snowboarder in connection with an alleged drug trafficking operation that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico, the United States and Canada.

The U.S. Department of Justice says Ryan Wedding, who competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and Andrew Clark are also responsible for allegedly directing the murders of four people in Ontario.

Mexican law enforcement officials arrested Clark on October 8 while Wedding is considered a fugitive.

The FBI said a dozen people were also arrested in Florida, Michigan, Canada, Colombia and Mexico in connection with the case.

Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” is facing four felony drug charges as well as three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to his arrest.

Clark, who was known as “The Dictator,” is also charged with the same drug felonies as Wedding, plus an additional count of murder.

“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,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada.

“He chose to become a major drug trafficker and he chose to become a killer.”

Wedding and Clark are among 16 defendants, including 10 Canadians, who are alleged to have shipped bulk quantities of cocaine across North America through a Canada-based drug transportation network run by Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, both of Ontario using long-haul semi-trucks from approximately January 2024 to August 2024.

The indictment also alleges that Wedding and Clark directed the November 20, 2023, murders of a couple in Caldon, Ontario who were visiting Canada from India in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California. Another member of that family survived the shooting but was left with serious physical injuries.

“This was a case of mistaken identity,” said Estrada. “They were killed in cold blood in front of their daughter, who was also shot 13 times.”

Wedding and Clark allegedly also ordered the murder of a 39-year-old man in Brampton on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt.

Clark and Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, a Canadian resident, are also alleged to have murdered another victim on April 1, 2024, in Mississauga.

The 43-year-old Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, said Chris Leather, chief superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

“Those charges are very much unresolved,” Leather said.

Wedding previously was convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and he was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show. U.S. authorities believe that after Wedding’s release, he resumed drug trafficking and has been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.

Files from The Associated Press were used in this report