Former Canadian Olympian Ryan Wedding Accused of Leading Drug Ring and Ordering Ontario Killings

A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder is facing serious allegations of orchestrating an international drug ring and being involved in a series of fatal shootings in the Toronto area that resulted in three deaths last year.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that Ryan Wedding, along with another Canadian, Andrew Clark, both residing in Mexico, allegedly ordered multiple shootings in Ontario, including one in Caledon that led to the deaths of three individuals.

In March, Peel Regional Police disclosed that five shootings, two of which resulted in the deaths of three innocent people, were linked to each other. Among these incidents was a shooting at Royal Windsor Drive and Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga on November 15, 2023, where Brampton resident Jagraj Singh, 29, was killed.

Following Singh’s death, police spoke with several individuals at a residence on Mayfield Road in Caledon, including a man and a woman who was later fatally shot just days afterwards. That couple was killed in a shooting at a home in Caledon on November 20, with a third person also wounded during the attack.

FBI charges ex-Canadian Olympic snowboarder with ordering Caledon double murder, running massive cocaine ring

U.S. officials allege that Wedding and Clark ordered the killings in Caledon in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that had passed through the area. Additionally, they are accused of orchestrating another hit on May 18 over a drug debt, although the details regarding its location have not been specified.

The Department of Justice further revealed that Clark and a 23-year-old Canadian named Malik Damion Cunningham are facing murder charges related to a separate killing in Ontario on April 1. This indictment included 16 individuals charged in Los Angeles as part of a cocaine smuggling ring allegedly bringing cocaine from Colombia through Mexico to California, where it would then be distributed across Canada and the U.S.

The investigation suggests that two men from Ontario, Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, were operating a Canada-based transportation network responsible for shipping cocaine into Canada using long-haul semi-trucks.

Photo of Ryan Wedding, former Canadian Olympic snowboarder. FBI/HO

Originally from Thunder Bay, Ryan Wedding represented Canada in the men’s parallel giant slalom event at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Games.

According to the DOJ, he is the lead defendant in the case and currently resides in Mexico. He is known by various aliases, including “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy.”

He is wanted on multiple charges, including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to export cocaine, leading a continuing criminal enterprise, and murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.

Andrew Clark, arrested in Mexico on October 8, faces the exact charges as Wedding and is known in Mexico as “The Dictator.” As part of the investigation, authorities seized one ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, $255,400 in U.S. currency, and over $3.2 million in cryptocurrency.

The DOJ indictment claims that 293 kilograms (646 pounds) of cocaine had already been shipped to Canada via their network. In comparison, another shipment of 375.1 kilograms (827 pounds) was intercepted before reaching the border.