A Canadian Olympic snowboarder is being accused of running an international drug ring and being behind a string of fatal shootings in the Toronto area that left three people dead last year.
The U.S. Justice Department issued an announcement Thursday alleging that Ryan Wedding and another Canadian Andrew Clark, who both live in Mexico, ordered several shootings in Ontario, including one in Caledon which resulted in the death of three people.
In March, Peel Regional Police announced that five shootings — including two that resulted in the deaths of three innocent people — were all linked.
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Among the five shootings were one at Royal Windsor Drive and Winston Churchill Boulevard in Mississauga on Nov. 15, 2023, which left Brampton resident Jagraj Singh, 29, dead.
Five days later, a man and a woman were killed in a shooting at a home in Caledon, Peel police said.
American officials allege Wedding and Clark ordered the deaths of the family members in Caledon in connection to a stolen drug shipment which had passed through Caledon.
The pair were also said to have ordered another hit on May 18 over a drug debt although a release did not specify a location for that one.
The U.S. Justice Department also say that Clark and a 23-year-old Canadian named Malik Damion Cunningham are also facing murder charges in connection to a killing in Ontario on April 1.
Thursday’s announcement said the pair were among 16 people who have been charged in Los Angeles in connection to a cocaine smuggling ring which was bringing cocaine from Columbia up through Mexico and into California before it was distributed across Canada and the U.S.
They allege that two men from Ontario, Hardeep Ratte, 45, and Gurpreet Singh, 30, were behind a Canada-based transportation network that was shipping cocaine to Canada using long-haul semi-trucks.
More to follow…
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