A former Olympic snowboarder on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list orchestrated the murder of a federal witness in Colombia earlier this year, leading to Tuesday’s arrest of 10 associates, including a Canadian criminal lawyer, a reggaeton musician, and a would-be gangland news website operator.
The multi-national arrests mark a major escalation in the hunt for Ryan James Wedding, 44, whose alleged cocaine trafficking empire spans from Colombia to Canada, with authorities now offering a $15 million reward for his capture.
Federal prosecutors unsealed a nine-count indictment on Wednesday, revealing how Wedding allegedly ordered the January 31 assassination of a cooperating witness at a Medellín restaurant.
The Canadian-born athlete, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics, has been living in Mexico while running what officials describe as one of the world’s most violent drug trafficking organizations.
“Whether you’re a kingpin or a dealer on the street, anyone who sells drugs to our kids will be arrested and prosecuted,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said. “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 those arrested in “Operation Giant Slalom” was Deepak Balwant Paradkar, 62, a criminal barrister from Ontario who allegedly advised Wedding to murder the witness to avoid U.S. extradition. Prosecutors say Paradkar provided Wedding with sealed court documents and arranged legal representation for arrested gang members.
The indictment also named Gursewak Singh Bal, 31, co-founder of “The Dirty News” website. Bal allegedly accepted payment to post the victim’s photograph online, helping assassins locate and kill the witness.
Edwin Basora-Hernandez, 31, a reggaeton musician from Montreal, provided the victim’s contact information to help Wedding’s organization track down the witness. The Dominican Republic citizen was among 10 defendants arrested Tuesday across North America.
Wedding faces charges stemming from a 2024 federal case accusing him of ordering the November 2023 murders of two family members in Ontario over a stolen drug shipment. A third family member survived but suffered serious injuries. The victim who was murdered in January 2025 in Medellin, Colombia, was a witness in the 2024 narcotics case against Wedding.
“Ryan Wedding’s athletic drive snowballed into a life of violence and, instead of conquering mountains, he mastered a deadly drug distribution enterprise,” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Los Angeles office.
The State Department increased its reward to $15 million for Wedding’s capture. Officials are offering $2 million each for information leading to the Colombian assassins.
Immigration authorities also moved against associates of Wedding’s network who are living in the United States. These include Latin pop artist Samantha Melissa Granda-Gastelu, 38, residing in Aventura, Florida, and whose husband faces separate murder conspiracy charges, and Madeline Paradkar, 27, an attorney residing in Chicago and the daughter of the indicted barrister.
Three defendants remain at large alongside Wedding: Rasheed Pascua Hossain, 32, of Vancouver; Bianca Canastillo-Madrid, 37, of Mexico City; and Tommy Demorizi, 35, believed to be hiding in the Dominican Republic.
The operation involved collaboration between U.S., Canadian, and Colombian law enforcement agencies. Wedding’s organization allegedly imported tons of cocaine annually from Colombia through Mexico into North American communities.
“No one, not even a former Olympian, is above the law,” said Chris Landberg of the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.
If convicted, Wedding and his co-defendants, charged with the witness murder, face potential life sentences in federal prison.
