Ryan Wedding allegedly ordered one informant's murder—and then, prosecutors say, watched his own top lieutenant flip to the FBI. Court filings reviewed by CBC News describe how Andrew Clark, the man US authorities painted as Wedding's second-in-command, became a key source in the case against the former Olympic snowboarder turned accused cartel-linked trafficker. Both men have pleaded not guilty to US charges that include large-scale cocaine smuggling and multiple killings, including the shooting deaths of an Ontario couple who were mistakenly targeted.
Investigators say the turning point came after Mexican security forces grabbed Clark in Zapopan, Jalisco, in October 2024, seizing a phone that linked him to Wedding and an alleged contract killer via encrypted chats. The messages include boasts of moving up to three tons of cocaine a month to Canada and offering a Toronto hitman $1.5 million "if we keep knocking em out the park quick," according to court documents. Clark was extradited to the US in early 2025, and a cooperating witness matching his description then met repeatedly with investigators, supplying details that helped identify alleged Canadian players and map the network's reach into the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.
By then, Wedding was already named in a sweeping US indictment and on the FBI's most-wanted list. He was also, according to prosecutors, hunting for the insider he believed had previously betrayed him. Investigators say he fixated on Montreal-born trafficker-turned-witness Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, a former prison acquaintance gunned down in Colombia in January 2025. Court filings allege Toronto lawyer Deepak Paradkar urged Wedding and Clark to have Acebedo-Garcia killed to avoid extradition, a claim Paradkar denies. Authorities say Clark, even after his arrest, seemingly helped associates track Acebedo-Garcia as he remained in contact with Wedding until last fall, months before Wedding's arrest.
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