Former Olympic Snowboarder Ryan Wedding's Drug Trafficking Case Takes a Turn as Key Witness Assassinated

Image credits: FBI

The case against former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, who is accused of running a murderous cross-border drug trafficking conspiracy, has taken a significant turn with the assassination of a key witness in Colombia. The witness, who has not been identified in court documents, was a Canadian citizen who had been working with investigators to dismantle the transnational drug trafficking operation allegedly led by Wedding. The witness's death has raised questions about the future of the case and the potential impact on the prosecution's ability to secure a conviction.

The witness's role in the case was crucial, as they had been providing investigators with valuable information about the inner workings of the drug trafficking operation. The witness had also been expected to testify at trial, but their death has now made that impossible. The Crown has asked for a three-week adjournment to submit new disclosure, and it is unclear how the absence of the key witness will affect the case. The investigation into Wedding's alleged operation began after the killings of an Indian couple in Caledon, Ontario, who were mistakenly targeted over a stolen drug shipment.

The case against Wedding involves an alleged conspiracy to traffic tonnes of cocaine into Canada from California via a network of GTA-based long-haul truckers. The FBI has accused Wedding of ordering international assassinations, including the killings of the Indian couple, and has warned that he still has access to a "network of hit men" ready to conduct more killings. Wedding, who is a fugitive, has been accused of running a sophisticated drug trafficking organization that has shown a callous disregard for human life. The FBI has said that Wedding and his co-accused were living in Mexico under the protection of the notorious Sinaloa cartel.

Here is a timeline of events in the case: * October 2024: The FBI announces a sweeping indictment alleging that Wedding and another Canadian, Andrew Clark, ran a network that moved cocaine from Colombia, through Mexico and Southern California, to Canada. * January 2024: The key witness meets with Clark and Wedding in Mexico City to arrange for the transportation of a drug shipment to Canada. * February 2024: The witness meets with Hardeep Ratte and Gurpreet Singh, two men accused of running the transportation network for Wedding, in Toronto. * November 2023: The Indian couple is killed in a mistaken-identity attack in Caledon, Ontario. * January 2025: The key witness is assassinated in Colombia. The allegations against Wedding and his co-accused have not been tested in court, and it is unclear how the absence of the key witness will affect the case. The prosecution's ability to secure a conviction may be impacted, and the case may be delayed or even dismissed.

The prosecution has relied heavily on evidence obtained by the confidential witness, including recorded conversations and encrypted text messages detailing the arrangement of multiple cocaine shipments into Canada. The witness's death has raised concerns about the safety of other witnesses in the case, and the FBI has warned that Wedding still has access to a network of hit men. The case is ongoing, and it is unclear what the outcome will be. The key witness's assassination has added a new layer of complexity to the case, and it remains to be seen how the prosecution will proceed.