A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder is being accused of running an international drug ring and being behind a string of fatal shootings in the Toronto area that left three people dead last year.
The U.S. Department of Justice issued an announcement Thursday alleging that Ryan Wedding and fellow Canadian Andrew Clark, who both live in Mexico, ordered several shootings in Ontario, including one in Caledon that resulted in the death of three people.
In March, Peel Regional Police announced that five shootings — including two that resulted in the deaths of three bystanders — were all linked.
Among the five shootings was one at Royal Windsor Drive and Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga on Nov. 15, 2023, which left Brampton resident Jagraj Singh, 29, dead.
Peel police Insp. Todd Custance said at the time that as part of their homicide investigation into Singh’s death, police officers went to a home the following day on Mayfield Road in Caledon and spoke with “several people,” including a man and a woman.
On Nov. 20, that man and woman were killed in a shooting at a home in Caledon, Peel police said. A third person was also wounded in the shooting.
But the family was not involved in drug trafficking at all and was “completely innocent,” Ontario Provincial Police Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns told a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday.
“Our investigation has determined that these three victims were mistakenly targeted,” Kearns said, referring to the murdered couple and their adult daughter, who was seriously injured in the shooting.
American officials say their investigation, dubbed Project Slalom, alleges Wedding and Clark ordered the deaths of the family members in Caledon in connection with a stolen drug shipment that had passed through Caledon.
The pair were also said to have ordered another hit on May 18 over a drug debt, although a release did not specify a location for that one. Peel police say the victim was a 39-year-old man from Brampton.
The D.O.J. also says Clark and a 23-year-old Canadian named Malik Damion Cunningham are also facing murder charges in connection with the killing of a 29-year-old man in Niagara Falls on April 1.
Thursday’s announcement said the pair were among 16 people who have been charged in Los Angeles in connection with a cocaine smuggling ring that was bringing 60 tonnes of cocaine a year from Colombia up through Mexico and into California before it was distributed across Canada and the U.S.
According to RCMP, there were 10 Canadians among the 16 people who were charged in connection with Project Slalom. Eight have been arrested across North America, while Wedding and another man remain outstanding.
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and extradition of Wedding.
They allege that two men from Ontario, Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, were behind a Canada-based transportation network that was shipping cocaine to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks.
Wedding, who is originally from Thunder Bay, competed for Canada in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games in the men’s parallel giant slalom event.
The D.O.J. said he is the lead defendant in their case and currently resides in Mexico, where his known aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy.”
He is wanted on a number of charges, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to export cocaine, leading a continuing criminal enterprise, murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime, and attempt to commit murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
Wedding faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada that date back to 2015, said Chris Leather, chief superintendent with 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 was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show. Estrada said U.S. authorities believe that after Wedding’s release, he resumed drug trafficking and has been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
Clark, who was arrested in Mexico on Oct. 8, is facing the same charges as Wedding. He is said to also be known in Mexico as “The Dictator.”
The D.O.J. said police seized one tonne of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, US$255,400 and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency as part of the investigation.
The D.O.J. indictment alleges that the 293 kilograms (646 pounds) of cocaine was shipped to Canada through the network and officers interrupted another shipment of 375.1 kilograms (827 pounds) headed north of the border as well.
— with files from Global News and The Canadian Press