"A former Olympic snowboarder who allegedly became the head of a billion-dollar drug trafficking organization has been charged with ordering the murder of a witness against him earlier this year, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles. Authorities said Ryan Wedding, a Canadian who is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, issued an order to kill a witness in a 2024 federal narcotics case against him."
"The order resulted in the victim being shot to death in a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia, in January 2025, prosecutors said. Wedding, 44, is believed to be a fugitive in Mexico. He is charged in the nine-count indictment with overseeing the operations of a violent and lucrative criminal enterprise, according to the U.S. attorney's office in L.A. Authorities arrested 10 people Tuesday as part of an operation investigators dubbed "Giant Slalom.""
"Those charged include Deepak Balwant Paradkar, 62, of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. Paradkar allegedly advised Wedding to murder the victim to prevent Wedding's extradition to the U.S. from Mexico on the 2024 charges against him. Authorities described Gursewak Singh Bal, 31, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, as the co-founder and co-operator of a website called "The Dirty News," described in the indictment as "an urban news outlet.""
Ryan Wedding, a 44-year-old Canadian and former Olympic snowboarder, is accused of heading a billion-dollar drug trafficking enterprise and ordering the killing of a witness in a 2024 federal narcotics case. The witness was shot to death at a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia, in January 2025 after Wedding allegedly issued the murder order. Wedding is believed to be a fugitive in Mexico and is on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. Authorities arrested 10 people in an operation called Giant Slalom, charging associates including Deepak Balwant Paradkar and Gursewak Singh Bal with roles in planning and facilitating the killing.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]