Fugitive ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding was found — but not arrested — this year, docs show
CBC
After Ryan Wedding evaded the RCMP for nearly a decade, U.S. authorities briefly learned of the alleged drug lord's precise location earlier this year, as they kept building a case against the former Olympic snowboarder.
This revelation is contained in newly unsealed Ontario court records obtained by CBC News. The documents lay out some of the steps taken by U.S. authorities to covertly gather evidence on Wedding's alleged transnational criminal enterprise.
A California grand jury indictment made public last week names Wedding, 43, as the leader of a $1-billion US drug trafficking network linked to violent killings in Ontario. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Wedding, a member of Team Canada at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In January, U.S. authorities knew exactly where he was, according to a statement of facts recently filed in Ontario Superior Court as Toronto police sought to arrest four of Wedding's alleged accomplices.
Sometime last year, an unnamed witness who U.S. authorities said "had trafficked drugs with Wedding for more than a decade" agreed to co-operate with investigators.
In January, the witness met face-to-face with Wedding and his "second in command," Andrew Clark, in Mexico City. The precise location of the encounter — which was directed by U.S. law enforcement — is not disclosed in the documents.
For the witness, the meeting carried risks. A conversation with Clark — also Canadian, and nicknamed "The Dictator" — was even recorded.
U.S. authorities say both Wedding and Clark have been living in Mexico, under the protection of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel. Clark was reportedly arrested earlier this month at a restaurant in the Guadalajara area in a dramatic daytime operation involving the Mexican Navy.
Wedding, who goes by aliases such as "Boss" and "Public Enemy," has been notoriously harder to apprehend.
The former athlete was sentenced to a U.S. prison term in 2010 after he was convicted in California on a charge of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
But "upon his release," U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said last week, Wedding "went back to drug trafficking and, in fact, built this prolific and ruthless organization."
The RCMP confirmed to CBC that they've been hunting Wedding since "approximately" 2015. That year, media reports said Wedding was among 15 people charged in the RCMP's Operation Harrington, which sought to crack down on cocaine imports into Canada.
"I certainly hope that Mr. Wedding's world is a little smaller now," said Liam Price, the RCMP's director general of international special services, said in an interview.
Although he said the Mounties and their partners will be "making every effort to track him down as soon as possible," Price added that "I wouldn't want to put a date on it."
A national Jewish advocacy organization is taking legal action against Manitoba's medical regulator over a complaint it made last year alleging a prominent doctor made antisemitic comments on social media.
A cat that went missing in a remote area of northeastern B.C. is finally back home with its family in Oklahoma, five months later.
It wasn’t clear trolleys would be a hit in Medicine Hat, but the Sunshine Trolley has wound its way into Hatters’ hearts.
More than 200 volunteers and politicians gathered in Etobicoke Saturday for the Daily Bread Food Bank’s holiday sort.
The rising cost-of-living has already made supporting a family difficult this year. But, the holidays can make staying on budget that much harder.
Strong winds across the Maritimes left thousands of N.B. Power customers without electricity on Saturday afternoon — and it could be days before all customers have their power restored.
Toronto police say they located a body inside a downtown Toronto home Saturday.
Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge is responding to public outcry against his government’s policy changes for non-permanent residents by making a plea to the federal government.
A man in Saskatoon is in hospital after being shot by police as officers executed a warrant late Friday night.
RCMP say a man who was reported missing near Key First Nation has been found deceased.
Christy Morin says life was never the same in Alberta Avenue after the fires began.
It's small things, like a cigarette or a pair of clean socks, Rachel Montour says, that can go a long way to make you feel more human when you’re out on the street.
Several dozen members of Windsor's Chaldean community and its supporters celebrated in the cold at the corner of Marentette Avenue and Wyandotte Street East Friday, as city officials gave a secondary name to the section of Marentette between Wyandotte and Tuscarora Street: Chaldean Way.