A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and 15 others are going through legal prices for allegedly operating a drug-trafficking operation that shipped a whole bunch of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Canada and used violence — together with homicide — to attain the group’s targets, the U.S. Division of Justice (DOJ) introduced Thursday.
U.S officers mentioned 43-year-old Ryan James Wedding ceremony — who competed for Canada on the 2002 Winter Olympics however had been residing in Mexico — is the lead defendant within the case and continues to be on the run. Andrew Clark, a 34-year-old Canadian citizen who was additionally residing in Mexico, was arrested on Oct. 8, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) introduced at a Los Angeles information convention.
“As alleged within the indictment, an Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord is now charged with main a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and homicide, together with of harmless civilians,” United States Legal professional Martin Estrada mentioned in an announcement.
Based on a DOJ information launch, Wedding ceremony and Clark allegedly directed the murders of two members of the family in Ontario on Nov. 20, 2023, “in retaliation for a stolen drug cargo that handed by means of Southern California.”
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) investigators launched their very own assertion on the case Thursday, and although Wedding ceremony and Clark aren’t named, they did say that two individuals related to the case allegedly directed a 2023 double murder within the City of Caledon, Ont., which is about 60 kilometres northwest of Toronto. Police are nonetheless trying to find whoever really carried out the killings, and say they consider the household on this case was mistakenly focused.
“This complicated investigation spans a number of jurisdictions and companies, with an alleged retaliation over stolen medication tragically impacting an harmless household in Ontario, Canada,” OPP Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns mentioned in an announcement.
Moreover, in keeping with the DOJ information launch, Wedding ceremony and Clark allegedly ordered the homicide of one other sufferer in Ontario on Might 18, 2024 over a drug debt.
Wedding ceremony and Clark, U.S. officers say, are charged with a number of felonies, together with homicide in reference to a seamless legal enterprise.
Clark and Canadian Malik Damion Cunningham, 23, are additionally charged in reference to one other murder investigation in Ontario from April of this yr, the DOJ says.
In a superseding indictment, which amends the preliminary indictment towards Wedding ceremony and others, the DOJ alleges the drug-trafficking operation conspired to ship a whole bunch of kilograms of cocaine from Southern California to Canada from January to August of this yr.
“The cocaine shipments have been transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles space, the place the cocaine trafficking group’s operatives would retailer the cocaine in stash homes, earlier than delivering it to the transportation community couriers for transportation to Canada utilizing long-haul semi-trucks,” the DOJ’s information launch reads.
Two Ontario males, 45-year-old Hardeep Ratte and 30-year-old Gurpreet Singh, have been allegedly accountable for the transportation.
American regulation enforcement officers say a number of individuals charged in reference to the case are anticipated to look in courtroom within the coming weeks in Los Angeles, Michigan and Miami.
Through the investigation, regulation enforcement officers seized roughly 1,800 kilograms of cocaine, the DOJ says, alongside $255,400 US in money, and $3.2 million in cryptocurrency.
