LOS ANGELES
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and 15 others have been charged in a 16-count federal indictment for allegedly running a transnational drug trafficking operation, officials stated.
The group is accused of shipping hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada and other U.S. locations.
The operation’s leaders also allegedly orchestrated multiple murders to support their drug activities.
Ryan James Wedding, 43, a Canadian living in Mexico, and Andrew Clark, 34, also a Canadian living in Mexico, were previously charged with running a criminal enterprise, murder, and conspiring to traffic cocaine.
On October 8, Mexican authorities detained Clark; Wedding is still at large.
A superseding indictment, unsealed Thursday, adds 14 more co-defendants.
According to the allegations, Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, both from Ontario, Canada, conspired to transport hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Southern California to Canada between January and August 2024.
The cocaine was smuggled from Mexico to stash houses in Los Angeles before being sent to Canada via long-haul trucks.
The indictment claims the group used violence, including multiple murders, to further their criminal activities. Wedding and Clark allegedly ordered the killings of two family members in Ontario on November 20, 2023, in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment.
A third family member survived but was seriously injured. They are also accused of ordering a May 18, 2024, murder over a drug debt. Additionally, Clark and Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, of Canada, allegedly committed another murder on April 1, 2024, in Ontario.
Wedding, nicknamed “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics and is the lead defendant in the case. He faces eight felony charges, including conspiracy to distribute drugs, leading a criminal enterprise, and multiple murders tied to the drug operation. Clark, known as “The Dictator,” faces the same charges plus an additional murder count.
“The FBI remains steadfast in its mission to identify, target, and dismantle violent transnational organized crime syndicates in our communities. Today, in collaboration with several local, federal, and international partners, we reaffirm our commitment to the American people by dismantling a violent organized crime network trafficking large quantities of drugs into the United States and orchestrating multiple homicides to eliminate the competition,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The organization, led by former Olympian Ryan Wedding, cultivated a violent transnational drug trafficking empire that extended from Canada to the United States, Mexico, and Colombia. While key members of Wedding’s criminal enterprise were successfully apprehended this week, he remains at large. The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information leading to his arrest.”
“Organized Crime groups create immense harm in all our communities, not just with the poisons they ship, but through the tragic violence that inevitably comes with it,” said Liam Price, Director General, International Special Services, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “This network presented a threat to communities in Canada, the United States and overseas. That is why we, as Canada’s national police force, worked closely with the FBI and others to disrupt it.”
During the investigation, law enforcement seized over one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in cash, and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency.
According to the superseding indictment, in March 2024, the organization delivered about 293 kilograms (646 pounds) of cocaine to representatives of Hardeep Ratte and Gurpreet Singh for shipment to Canada.
The following month, they attempted to deliver approximately 375 kilograms (827 pounds) of cocaine, but authorities intercepted and seized it.
In total, the group allegedly handled about 1,800 kilograms (1.8 metric tons) of cocaine, with a street value between $23.4 and $25.2 million in Los Angeles.
Several of the defendants arrested are expected to appear in court in the coming week in Los Angeles, Michigan, and Miami.
The defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
If convicted, Wedding, Clark, and Cunningham would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on the murder and attempted murder charges. The continuing criminal enterprise charges also carry a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison. The drug trafficking charges carry mandatory minimum penalties between 10 and 15 years in prison.
The FBI investigated this matter with the Los Angeles Police Department, the DEA Los Angeles, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police—Federal Policing.
Assistant United States Attorneys Lyndsi Allsop and Maria Jhai of the Violent and Organized Crime Section and Ryan Waters of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section are prosecuting this case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance.