The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury have outlined defendants, individuals, and entities involved in Canadian ex-Olympic snowboarder turned alleged drug-trafficking kingpin Ryan Wedding’s “criminal enterprise.”
On Wednesday, the DOJ unsealed a new indictment and revealed seven Canadians have been arrested for extradition to the U.S. in connection with the investigation. Another 10 individuals, including three who were among those charged criminally, are also facing sanctions from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
U.S. officials say Wedding is responsible for trafficking multi-ton quantities of cocaine through Colombia and Mexico for distribution in the United States and Canada.
He has also been linked to at least four murders in Ontario, and others in the U.S. and South America by U.S. prosecutors.
“His criminal organization uses cryptocurrency to move and launder the proceeds of drug trafficking, concealing vast sums of illicit wealth,” a release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury said.
“He employs highly sophisticated methods in both the planning and execution of these killings, demonstrating a level of coordination and ruthlessness that has made him one of the world’s most dangerous fugitives.”
- READ MORE: U.S. says Canadian ex-Olympian allegedly ordered murder of witness in drug-trafficking investigation
At the DOJ news conference Wednesday, FBI Director Kash Patel called Wedding and his associates “animals” when describing their alleged drug-trafficking network, the likes of which he said the Bureau has not seen “in a long time.”
Here are all the people accused of allegedly being involved with or helping Wedding in his criminal dealings:
Deepak Balwant Paradkar
Deepak Balwant Paradkar, 62, from Thornhill, Ont., is one of 10 people, seven of which are Canadians, arrested as part of the nine-count federal grand jury indictment that was unsealed.
Paradkar is a Canadian lawyer that the Treasury says, “provided a range of illegal services to Wedding and his drug trafficking organization beyond the scope of a normal attorney-client relationship.”
He previously represented Dellen Millard, the man convicted of the first-degree murder of Tim Bosma, but stepped down before the trial started.
The DOJ says Paradkar advised Wedding and his alleged second-in-command, Canadian Andrew Clark, that the murder of a key witness would result in the case collapsing and help them avoid extradition from Mexico on the criminal charges.
That witness was later killed in January 2025, in a plot that the FBI has linked to Wedding.
U.S. officials also say that Paradkar provided Wedding with court documents and discovery “to which he would otherwise not have access,” and allowed “Wedding and his associates to eavesdrop on privileged communications between Paradkar and his other clients, several of whom Wedding wished to murder.”
Paradkar was allegedly paid with luxury watches and “additional fees.”
Additionally, he has been sanctioned by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in connection with the case.
Rolan Sokolovski
Rolan Sokolovski, 37, of Toronto, Ont., owns a jewelry business, and is one of two “chief money launderers” the Treasury says Wedding used.
“Wedding has laundered his illicit profits through an extensive transatlantic network of businesses and associates, channeling drug proceeds into luxury assets such as cars and motorcycles that are concealed around the world,” the Treasury said in a release.
They say Sokolovski has overseen bookkeeping for Wedding’s organization and laundered its funds through his jewelry business, 2351885 Ontario Inc, which operates under the name “Diamond Tsar” and has a storefront in Toronto.
“In addition to using his business as a front for laundering, Sokolovski has transferred millions of dollars in drug proceeds using cryptocurrency, concealing the origins of Wedding’s profits,” the release added.
Sokolovski and his business were also sanctioned by the OFAC.
Gursewak Singh Bal
Gursewak Singh Bal, 31, from Mississauga, Ont., is accused of allegedly co-founding and co-operating “The Dirty News,” a website that law enforcement seized.
The DOJ says that in exchange for payment, Bal agreed to not post about Wedding and instead posted a photograph of the key witness so that they could be located and killed.
7 others arrested
In a release Wednesday, the DOJ said that seven more individuals were arrested in connection with Wedding’s “criminal enterprise.”
- Atna Ohna, 40, of Laval, Québec
- Allistair Chapman, 33, of Calgary, Alberta
- Ahmad Nabil Zitoun, 35, of Edmonton, Alberta
- Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez, 47, of Bogotá, Colombia
- Yulieth Katherine Tejada, 36, of Orlando, Florida, who is legal permanent resident from Colombia
- Edwin Basora-Hernandez, 31, of Montréal, Québec
- Wilson Riascos, 45, of Cali, Colombia
Alongside Wedding, law enforcement is also searching for three additional defendants connected to the murder of the key witness: Rasheed Pascua Hossain, 32, of Vancouver, British Columbia; Bianca Canastillo-Madrid, 37, of Mexico City; and Tommy Demorizi, 35, of Montréal, Québec, who is believed to be a fugitive in the Dominican Republic.
Another group of individuals have been formally sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) but are not facing criminal chargers.
Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado
Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado is one of nine individuals sanctioned by the OFAC as part of the Wedding case.
They say Vazquez is also known as “the General” and he provides protection for Wedding in Mexico, as well as uses law enforcement sources to locate targets for him.
Vazquez is believed to be a former Mexican law enforcement officer with ties to senior Mexican law enforcement officials, according to the OFAC. He also owns three Mexico-based companies that also received sanctions.
Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno
The OFAC says Miryam Andrea Castillo Moreno is Wedding’s wife, who helps launder drug proceeds for him and has also helped him to commit acts of violence.
Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez and Daniela Alejandra Acuna Macias
Carmen Yelinet Valoyes Florez is described by the OFAC as a Colombian national who runs a high-end prostitution ring in Mexico.
They allege that Valoyes aided Wedding with the murder of the key witness.
Valoyes is also believed to have introduced Wedding to his girlfriend, Daniela Alejandra Acuna Macias. The OFAC says Acuna has collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wedding and knew from the beginning of their relationship that he was involved in “violent narcotics trafficking.”
It’s also alleged that Acuna has helped Wedding obtain information on his rivals.
Gianluca Tiepolo
Gianluca Tiepolo is the second of Wedding’s “chief money launderers” alongside Sokolovski.
The OFAC says Tiepolo is a former Italian special forces member and has worked closely with Sokolovski “to procure and manage Wedding’s physical assets.” Those assets include high-end vehicles.
Tiepolo has also alleged been holding millions of dollars in Wedding’s property under his own name in an effort to conceal them assets from authorities.
Tiepolo owns two businesses that trade in luxury motorcycles and automobiles in Italy and the United Kingdom and also founded a “tactical solutions” military-style training company that the OFAC say has trained many of Wedding’s hitmen.
Cristian Diana and John Anthony Fallon
Italian citizen Cristian Diana and U.K. citizen John Anthony Fallon are believed to be business associates of Tiepolo’s.
Diana serves as the president of the board at two of Tiepolo’s companies, while Fallon is a director of another. Fallon also is the sole director of two other U.K.-based companies that also deal in luxury motorcycle and automobile trading.
Next steps
The investigation into Wedding and his criminal associates is ongoing, and the reward for information leading to his arrest is $15 million. He is believed to be living in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa cartel.
The DOJ said it plans to extradite the Canadians arrested to the U.S. to stand trial.
So far, roughly US$3.2 million in cryptocurrency of Wedding’s criminal proceeds has been recovered, and over $13 million in physical assets has been confiscated.
With files from CTV News Toronto’s Phil Tsekouras
