Ten defendants have been arrested -- and 11 total are in custody -- after a federal grand jury handed down a nine-count indictment that was unsealed Wednesday, charging a former Olympic snowboarder and others in connection with the Jan. 31 murder in Colombia of a federal witness in a separate criminal case.
Ryan James Wedding, 44, a Canadian national residing in Mexico, is a former Olympic athlete who is now on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List.
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Wedding, the lead defendant in the case, is charged with overseeing the operations of a criminal enterprise – including by engaging in witness intimidation tactics such as murder – and enriching himself with the enterprise’s laundered drug proceeds, according to the Department of Justice.
Also charged in the case are a Canadian criminal barrister, a reggaeton musician and a would-be gangland news website operator.
There is now an increased $15 million reward for information leading to the arrest and/or prosecution of Wedding.
The following defendants were arrested Tuesday as part of the second phase of a law enforcement action entitled “Operation Giant Slalom”:
- Deepak Balwant Paradkar, 62, of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
- Atna Ohna, 40, of Laval, Québec, Canada
- Gursewak Singh Bal, 31, of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
- Allistair Chapman, 33, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Ahmad Nabil Zitoun, 35, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, 47, of Bogotá, Colombia
- Yulieth Katherine Tejada, 36, of Orlando, Florida, who is legal permanent resident from Colombia
- Edwin Basora-Hernandez, 31, of Montréal
- Wilson Riascos, 45, of Cali, Colombia
- Rolan Sokolovski, 37, of Toronto
“Whether you’re a kingpin or a dealer on the street, anyone who sells drugs to our kids will be arrested and prosecuted,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Ryan Wedding controls one of the most prolific and violent drug trafficking organizations in this world and works closely with the Sinaloa Cartel. We will not rest until his name is taken off the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted List, and his narco-trafficking organization lies dismantled.”
Among Wedding’s aliases, according to the FBI, are “El Jefe,” “Public Enemy,” and “James Conrad King.”
The FBI is investigating this matter with the Los Angeles Police Department, the United States Departments of State and Treasury – Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police – Federal Policing. In addition, significant assistance was provided by U.S. law enforcement partners, including Homeland Security Investigation Miami and Chicago and U.S. Customs and Border Protection – Buffalo; Canadian law enforcement partners, including Ontario Provincial Police, and Colombian law enforcement partners, including Colombian National Police – Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol, Special Interagency Investigation Group (Policía Nacional de Colombia – Dirección de Investigación Criminal e Interpol,Grupo Especial de Investigación Interagenciales).
“International cooperation, such as our involvement in Operation Giant Slalom, is vital to our ability to stay ahead of organized crime,” said Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Commissioner Mike Duheme. “The RCMP and its international law enforcement partners work together closely, regularly sharing knowledge, technical expertise, and intelligence to enable us to collectively target the most serious organized crime groups that threaten our countries - no matter where they are operating in the world.”
Wedding was charged last June with murder and drug crimes. Those charges were augmented last September in an indictment that alleged Wedding and others arranged the shipment of some 60 tons of cocaine a year using long-haul semi trucks to move the drugs between Colombia, Mexico, Southern California and Canada.
In announcing the original indictment last October, the FBI said a dozen people had been arrested in connection with the case.
U.S. authorities allege the group killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in what officials there said was a case of mistaken identity, as well as two other people, according to officials and federal court filings.
Wedding finished 24th in parallel giant slalom at the 2002 Olympics.