A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an “innocent” couple in Caledon in 2023, authorities say.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday that 43-year-old Ryan James Wedding, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, along with 34-year-old Andrew Clark, allegedly directed the Nov. 20, 2023, murders “in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California.”
During a police news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Deputy Commissioner Marty Kearns said the victims who were killed, Jagtar Singh Sidhu, 57, and Harbhajan Kaur Sidhu, 55 and their daughter Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu, 28, who survived the shooting, “were completely innocent.”
“Our investigation has determined that these three victims were mistakenly targeted and were not involved in the alleged trafficking organization,” Kearns said.
Peel police at that time said they believed the triple shooting was a case of mistaken identity, as they searched for suspects identified in a joint investigation with OPP dubbed “Project Midnight.”
Police said the Caledon shooting was linked to at least five others in the span of just over two weeks.
“I am immensely grateful and proud of the exceptional coordination among all involved services. It is truly a testament to how collaboration and investigative diligence across multiple borders has successfully identified those responsible for these horrific crimes. It has also helped to bring crucial answers to the veterans and to their families,” Kearns said.
Speaking to CP24 on Thursday afternoon, Det. Insp. Brian McDermott said OPP began to liaise with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) earlier this year after being notified that U.S. agency had information on who ordered the murders.
“We respect and value all of our relationships, and the relationships with our U.S. authorities is equal to that. We will communicate with anybody that can help solve crime and bring people to justice,” McDermott said.
“We collaborated with them, and then it ultimately led to today, the releasing of the fact that there was an indictment and that two individuals have been indicted for murder in furtherance of a criminal organization.”
McDermott echoed what Kearns said that the Sidhu family was not involved in any illicit drug trade.
“The information we have is that the murder was ordered. The individual, or individuals, went to that residence, and they shot the wrong people,” he said.
As for what’s next in the investigation, McDermott said investigators are still looking for the people who carried out the murder.
WEDDING AND CLARK ACCUSED IN TWO MORE ONTARIO MURDERS
Authorities said Clark was arrested on Oct. 8 by Mexican law enforcement. Wedding is still outstanding.
The DOJ said in addition to ordering the double homicide in Caledon, Wedding and Clark directed the murder of another victim on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt. Peel police said they responded that day to the area of Mississauga Road and Sandalwood Parkway for reports of a man suffering from gunshot wounds.
Officers arrived and found 39-year-old Mohammed Zafar in his driveway suffering life-threatening injuries, police said. He was later pronounced dead.
“We are jointly investigating and continue to investigate those offences with our partners from the Ontario Provincial Police due to the connections of those acts of violence and their connection to Peel. These tragic cases reflect the violence tied to transnational and organized crime and the trafficking of illicit drugs and the firearms that are used to affect that business,” Peel police Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich said during the news conference.
Wedding, Clark, and another suspect, identified as 23-year-old Canadian Malik Damion Cunningham, are also charged in a murder in Niagara Falls on April 1, 2024. In a separate news release issued Thursday afternoon, Niagara Regional Police said the three suspects are believed to be responsible for the shooting that occurred in the area of Epworth Circle and St. Lawrence Avenue.
Police said 29-year-old Randy Fader was located at the scene with life-threatening injuries. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
U.S. District Attorney Martin Estrada said Wedding, who is described as an “Olympic athlete-turned-drug lord,” contracted the killings to “insulate himself” from criminal activity.
“So, it took a great deal of investigative effort to actually trace all of these attacks to him, personally,” said Estrada.
‘VERY SOPHISTICATED OPERATION’
Wedding and Clark, who reside in Mexico, are two of 16 defendants identified in a superseding indictment unsealed Thursday, which alleges that the group was running what authorities described as a transnational drug trafficking operation.
Officials said more than a ton of cocaine, three firearms, dozens of rounds of ammunition, US$255,400 cash and more than $3.2 million in cryptocurrency were seized during the investigation, some of which were displayed at the news conference.
Wedding, whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy,” according to the FBI, is the lead defendant in the indictment and is wanted on eight charges, including three counts of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise.
Clark, who is known by the alias “The Dictator,” is facing the same charges, as well as an additional count of murder in connection with a continuing criminal enterprise and drug crime.
Officials say the defendants, 10 of whom are Canadians, “routinely” shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, into Canada and the U.S.
Police allege that Ontario residents Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, ran the Canadian transportation operations of Wedding and Clark’s drug trafficking network, using long-haul semi-trucks to transport the narcotics into the country after they were stored in stash houses by operatives in Los Angeles.
Ratte and Singh were arrested this week in Canada at the request of U.S. authorities pending extradition.
“This was a very sophisticated operation. They were operating out of Colombia, Mexico, the United States, and Canada – four different countries, as well as others. And in order to trace all the criminal activity, all the violent crimes to them. It took a great deal of investigation,” Estrada said.
He confirmed that Wedding had a prior federal criminal conviction and alleged that when the Canadian was released, “he went back to drug trafficking and, in fact, built this prolific and ruthless organization.”
Eight of the Canadians charged in the indictment have been arrested. In addition to Wedding, police said Canadian Gennadii Bilonog remains at large.
The FBI is offering a reward of up to US$50,000 for any information leading to Wedding’s arrest.