United States prosecutors are seeking a protective order for witnesses in the case against former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and accused drug lord Ryan Wedding, saying he is presumed to still have access to a “network of hitmen” while he remains at large.
Mr. Wedding, 43, is accused of leading a Canada-based international drug-trafficking ring and ordering several killings, according to a superseding indictment involving 16 defendants unsealed in October. Eight Canadian suspects were taken into custody in October to face charges of acting as his accomplices.
Authorities say the organization shipped tons of cocaine across the continent.
In an application filed Thursday in a Los Angeles court, prosecutors say an order is necessary to protect the personal information of “confidential informants and co-operating witnesses” in the case. The U.S. government believes that such an order is critical for the safety of the witnesses.
“These concerns are especially relevant here,” prosecutors wrote. “This is a complex case involving a sophisticated drug-trafficking organization, whose leaders have shown a callous disregard for human life, including – as charged in the superseding indictment – deploying hitmen to execute perceived rivals or enemies.”
The allegations contained in the original indictment and in prosecutors’ latest filings have not been tested in court.
Mr. Wedding and Andrew Clark, 34, a fellow Canadian and alleged leader of the organization who was arrested by Mexican law enforcement in October, are charged with four murders and one attempted murder between them.
Among those is the murder of a couple in Ontario in what police have called a case of mistaken identity. U.S. prosecutors allege that Mr. Wedding planned the Nov. 20, 2023, contract killings, which were allegedly intended as retaliation for a stolen drug shipment that passed through Southern California.
Gunmen stormed a residential home in Caledon, killing Jagtar Singh, 57, and his wife Harbhajan Kaur Sidhu, 55. The couple’s 28-year-old daughter Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu was shot 13 times in the attack, but she survived. Police continue to search for the gunmen.
Mr. Wedding is also accused of ordering several other shootings in the Greater Toronto Area – including an attempted homicide in Brampton.
Mr. Wedding is still at large, “presumably with the same access to encrypted means of communication and network of hitmen that enabled the charged murders,” prosecutors wrote. “Given these demonstrated risks in this case, if in any, witness safety and information security should be paramount.”
The FBI is offering a reward of up to US$50,000 for any information leading to Mr. Wedding’s arrest.
Lawyers for two defendants, Joel Sosa Cardenas and Anselmo Acuna Garcia, objected to some of the provisions of the proposed protective order. They did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Mr. Wedding competed for Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics and placed 24th in the men’s giant parallel slalom in Salt Lake City.
Court records show that since then he has repeatedly appeared in U.S. and Canadian courts accused of cocaine dealing. In 2008, he was sentenced near San Diego to four years in prison.
In 2015, while living in Montreal, Mr. Wedding faced renewed accusations of conspiracy to import cocaine – more than 10,000 kilos of it, a judgment related to the case says.