US authorities have charged a fugitive former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned drug lord with the murder of a witness who agreed to testify against him.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Wednesday that Ryan Wedding was accused in a recently unsealed indictment of tracking down a witness in Colombia who was then killed before he could testify.
Wedding, also known as “El Jefe,” “Giant” and “Public Enemy,” is alleged to have overseen the transport of hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California to Canada, as part of what Bondi called “one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations” in the world.
“We are coming for you. We will find you. And you will be accountable and brought to justice for your crimes,” she said.
Authorities also announced the arrest of Ontario lawyer Deepak Paradkar, who allegedly advised Wedding to kill FBI witness Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, a Canadian citizen who was shot dead at a Medellín restaurant in January.
Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California, told reporters that Paradkar was one of 12 people recently arrested in an “international bust.” He said the well-known Brampton lawyer told Wedding: “If you kill this witness, the case will be dismissed.”
Police in Canada also arrested Atna Onha, a Montreal man, and charged him with murder conspiracy in the killing of Acebedo-Garcia, a former member of Wedding’s organization.
“Make no mistake: Ryan Wedding is a modern-day version of Pablo Escobar,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “He is a modern version of El Chapo Guzmán.”
The State Department also increased the reward for Wedding’s arrest and conviction from $10 million to $15 million.
Wedding, 43, grew up in Thunder Bay, Ont., and competed for Team Canada at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, where he placed 24th in the parallel giant slalom event.
Four years after the Games, Ryan Wedding was named in a search warrant investigating a marijuana farm in British Columbia, but no charges were ever filed.
In 2010, Wedding was convicted of drug trafficking after attempting to buy cocaine from a U.S. government agent, and was sentenced to four years in prison.
Described by the media When Wedding was an “Olympic hopeful” in 2010, she tried to have the charges dismissed, citing “outrageous behavior” by US authorities, suggesting they had used a “violent former KGB agent” as an undercover agent.
But in the years since, he has emerged as a powerful and ruthless transnational drug trafficker.
RCMP Commissioner Mike Duhame was also at the news conference and told reporters that seven Canadians have been arrested. Duheme said Wedding’s organization likely makes more than $1 billion a year.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department also announced sanctions against Ryan Wedding and nine other people linked to his criminal organization.
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