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Ryan James Wedding, now 43, previously competed for Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
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A former Olympic snowboarder who once called Coquitlam home has been accused of being a co-conspirator in a cross-border drug ring that shipped cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and California and into Canada.
Ryan James Wedding, 43, competed for Canada in men’s parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, finishing 24th.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment that alleged Wedding was a co-conspirator in a “transnational drug trafficking operation that routinely shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine.” Investigators allege leaders of the operation also “orchestrated multiple murders.”
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Wedding is charged with eight felonies including two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of conspiracy to export cocaine, one count of leading a continuing criminal enterprise, three counts of murder, and one count of attempt to commit murder.
A total of 15 other individuals are also charged.
Read more: Former Coquitlam snowboarder still on the lam after new charges
Investigators allege the drug ring operated from January through August of this year, using a transportation network operated by two Ontario-based suspects.
“The cocaine shipments were transported from Mexico to the Los Angeles area, where the cocaine trafficking organization’s operatives would store the cocaine in stash houses, before delivering it to the transportation network couriers for transportation to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks,” said officials in a statement.
The indictment also alleges Wedding and co-accused Andrew Clark, 34, ordered the murders of an Ontario family “in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California.” Two people were killed and a third family member was seriously injured.
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Clark was arrested Oct. 8 in Mexico, while Wedding, whose aliases include El Jefe, Giant, and Public Enemy, is a fugitive. He was last known to be living in Mexico.
During the probe, officials have seized more than one tonne of cocaine, three firearms and ammunition, US$255,400 and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency.
Investigators believe a total of 293 kilograms of cocaine were delivered through the drug ring, and another 375.1 kilograms were seized by police during the investigation.
Several of the 16 individuals charged have since been arrested and will appear in courts in Los Angeles, Michigan, and Miami.
The murder and criminal enterprise charges levelled against Wedding carry a mandatory minimum penalty of life in a federal prison, while the drug trafficking charges have a minimum penalty of 10 to 15 years in prison.
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