What we know about the Canadians busted in an international drug ring led by a former Olympic athlete

October 25, 2024 Canuck

Canadian Ryan James Wedding finished in 24th place in the parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, but the snowboarder wouldn’t go on to improve his results in Torino four years later.

Instead, the FBI alleges that the 43-year-old became the “Boss” of a multi-national drug-trafficking ring that allegedly moved tens of millions of dollars worth of cocaine across four countries and ordered four murders in Canada.

In a 53-page indictment unsealed by the U.S. Department of Justice on Oct. 17 and obtained by CTV News Toronto, officials laid out the innerworkings of the alleged operation, which also names nine other Canadians.

The group allegedly trafficked 1,800 kilograms of cocaine, which carries an estimated street value of US$25 million, over several months from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, and into Canada and other parts of the United States using a complex network of dispatchers, drivers, distributors and stash houses.

Here’s what we know about Operation Giant Slalom:

‘El Jefe’

According to his Olympic bio, Wedding was named, but never charged, in a Maple Ridge, BC, search warrant that was investigating an illegal marijuana grow-op in 2006.

Two years after that, he was arrested, and then convicted, for trying to buy cocaine from a U.S. government agent and sentenced to four years in prison.

That information, which is still publicly available on the official Olympic website, serves as a preview of the criminal career the FBI alleges Wedding would embark upon in the decade plus that followed.

Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Boss,” and “Giant,” ran his illicit drug empire from 2011 to 2024, the indictment notes, within California, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and elsewhere. He allegedly served as a “principal administrator, organizer and leader” of the criminal enterprise, alongside 34-year-old Andrew Clark, who is also Canadian.

The duo not only ran the operation together, but also allegedly directed the Nov. 20, 2023 murder of a couple in Caledon, Ont. in “retaliation” for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California, the indictment claims. However, the couple, Jagtar Singh Sidhu, 57, and Harbhajan Kaur Sidhu, 55, were the unintended targets of the shooting and “completely innocent,” police said. Their daughter, Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu, 28, survived.

In addition to the double homicide in Caledon, Wedding and Clark also allegedly ordered the murder of another victim in Brampton on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt.

Wedding, Clark, and another suspect, identified as 23-year-old Canadian Malik Damion Cunningham, are also facing charges in a murder in Niagara Falls on April 1, 2024, local police say.

Clark, who the FBI says lived in Mexico and was known to his affiliates as “The Dictator,” was arrested in Mexico by local authorities earlier this month. Cunningham was arrested in April. Wedding, who reportedly also resides in Mexico, is at-large.

Wedding is the lead defendant in the indictment and wanted on eight charges, including three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise. Clark is facing the same charges, as well as an additional count of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.

Beyond the indictment, Wedding faces separate “unresolved” drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, according to the RCMP.

Speaking at the news conference earlier this month, U.S. District Attorney Martin Estrada said investigators believe Wedding resumed drug trafficking after his release from prison for his 2010 conviction and has been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico ever since.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for his arrest.

Of the 16 suspects named in the indictment, 14 are in police custody.

The Mexico City meeting

Details revealed in an extradition court application obtained by CTV News Toronto show police south of the border knew where Wedding and Clark were in January 2024.

According to a statement of facts included in the application, at the direction of U.S. law enforcement, a cooperating witness (CW) met with the pair somewhere in Mexico City that month.

The CW, who began working with police last year, had been trafficking drugs with Wedding for more than a decade prior to the meeting, officials allege.

The court document shows that the conversation was “lawfully recorded” and in it, the CW was directed to coordinate with two Canadians in the trucking industry the following month to coordinate the shipments of cocaine.

“Clark told the CW that Wedding would transport up to 350 kilograms of cocaine at a time,” the document reads.

Wedding was not arrested.

Transportation

The FBI said Wedding and Clark used a Canada-based drug transportation network to move their product, and identified Ontario residents Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, as the managers of that part of the operation.

“Defendant Clark would direct an individual to negotiate a haulage deal with a Canadian-based drug transportation network (the ‘TP’) run by defendants Ratte and Singh,” the indictment reads.

According to the DOJ, the cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, stored in stash houses, and delivered to the TP’s “couriers” for transport into Canada via long-haul semi-trucks.

In one incident, on Feb. 20, 2024, the indictment alleges that Ratte and Singh had an in-person meeting in Toronto with the CW from the Mexico City meeting.

During that encounter, the FBI alleges, Ratte and Singh agreed to transport the DTO’s cocaine from California to Canada for a flat fee of $220,000 per load.

Under Ratte and Singh were two other Canadians, Rakhim Ibragimov and Gennadii Bilonog, who the indictment alleges worked as “dispatchers” for the network, picking up cocaine from central California for eventual transportation into Canada.

In another incident, on March 4, the FBI said a defendant named Carlos Alberto Peña Goyeneche (who is not Canadian) delivered 293 kilograms of cocaine to Bilonog and texted Wedding the following: “Ready boss delivered the order of 293.”

While Ibragimov was arrested by police in Ontario last week, Bilonog remains at-large.

Two other drivers, identified as Canadians Ranjit Singh Rowal and Iqbal Singh Virk, were also arrested in the U.S. for their alleged involvement in the conspiracy.

‘Drive over niagara blow this guys top off’

The statement of facts also points to encrypted communication between Clark and Cunningham, in which the former allegedly hired Cunningham “to murder a list of targets,” which included a victim identified as R.F. in the court document.

Officials said that on March 18, 2024, Cunnigham exchanged messages with Clark on Threema, an encrypted instant messaging app. Cunnigham allegedly wrote: “Okay I wanna do the easiest and head up.”

Clark responded, according to the statement of facts, “Maybe the niagara falls ginger lol. But its not much 100K and I’ll pay expenses Driveaway job someone else was gonna do it but well test out your new military training skills.”

The documents went on to allege that Clark later told Cunningham to “drive over niagara blow this guys top off.”

Other details, including vehicle descriptions and photos that matched the evidence police found at the crime scene, were found in the Threema communications, the court documents noted.

Cunningham’s phone was also pinged within two kilometres of R.F.’s residence on April 1, according to the statement of facts. The court documents allege that Cunnigham took a photo on his phone two days after the murder, depicting a pistol and a large quantity of Canadian currency with the caption “good night!”

Niagara Regional Police have since identified the victim as 29-year-old Ryan Fader.

Wedding, Clark threaten to kill co-defendant’s mother: indictment

One other Canadian listed in the indictment is Nahim Jorge Bonilla, who the FBI alleges got caught up in a drug debt with Wedding and Clark, which saw the alleged ring leaders threaten his mother’s life if he didn’t pay up.

While it’s unclear when exactly the transaction took place, the indictment says that Wedding and Clark provided Bonilla with 12 kilograms of cocaine. Bonilla paid for seven of those kilograms upon delivery and was fronted the remaining five, authorities allege.

Bonilla then allegedly distributed and made an “attempt” to distribute the 12 kilograms of cocaine.

However, the deal went south when authorities say Bonilla failed to pay for the five kilograms he received as debt.

“On June 14, 2024, via Threema, using coded language, defendant Wedding told defendant Bonilla that he would kill his mother,” the indictment states.

Bonilla was given until June 17 to pay the balance and would later send Wedding and Clark payment for two kilograms through a form of cryptocurrency.

As for the remaining three kilograms owed, the DOJ said Bonilla agreed to send a driver to Laval, Quebec to sell roughly 20 kilograms of methamphetamine as payment to Wedding and Clark.

“On June 25, 2024, via Threema, using coded language, defendant Wedding told the CS [a confidential source working with law enforcement] that defendant Bonilla paid him in full for the 5 kilograms of cocaine.”

With files from Bryann Aguilar

View original article here Source

Canada News

What we know about the Canadians busted in an international drug ring led by a former Olympic athlete

‘El Jefe’

The Mexico City meeting

Transportation

‘Drive over niagara blow this guys top off’

Wedding, Clark threaten to kill co-defendant’s mother: indictment

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