US charges ex-Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin with murder of witness

Original article by Leyland Cecco in Toronto

US authorities have charged a fugitive former Canadian Olympic snowboarder turned drug kingpin with the murder of a witness who was prepared to testify against him.

The attorney general, Pam Bondi, said on Wednesday that Ryan Wedding was accused in a newly unsealed indictment of tracking down a witness in Colombia who was then murdered before he could give evidence.

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, and into 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 held to justice for your crimes,” she said.

Authorities also announced the arrest of the Ontario lawyer Deepak Paradkar, who allegedly advised Wedding to murder the FBI witness, Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, a Canadian citizen who was shot dead in a restaurant in Medellín in January.

Bill Essayli, first assistant US attorney at the central district of California, told reporters that Paradkar was one of a dozen individuals who were recently arrested in an “international takedown”. 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 about it: Ryan Wedding is a modern-day iteration of Pablo Escobar,” the FBI director, Kash Patel, said. “He’s a modern-day iteration of El Chapo Guzmán.”

The state department also increased its reward for Wedding’s capture and conviction from US$10m to $15m.

Wedding, 43, grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and competed for Team Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic games, 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-growing operation in British Columbia, but was never charged.

In 2010, Wedding was convicted of drug trafficking after attempting to buy cocaine from a US government agent and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Described by media at the time as a 2010 “Olympic hopeful”, Wedding sought to dismiss the charges, alleging “outrageous conduct” by US authorities, suggesting they used a “violent former KGB agent” as an undercover operative.

But in the years since, he has emerged as a powerful and ruthless transnational narcotics trafficker.

The RCMP commissioner, Mike Duhame, was also present at the press conference and told reporters that seven Canadians have been arrested. Duheme said Wedding’s organization probably makes more than $1bn a year.

On Wednesday, the US treasury department also announced sanctions on Ryan Wedding and nine other people linked to his criminal organization.