Ontario truckers used secret compartment to smuggle cocaine for alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding
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Two Toronto-area truck drivers have committed to pleading guilty in connection with a cocaine-smuggling plot for fugitive and former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding.
Iqbal Singh Virk and Ranjit Singh Rowal are the first Canadians to sign plea deals with U.S. prosecutors following the FBI’s investigation, aptly named “Operation Giant Slalom,” according to CBC News.
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The probe aimed to take down Wedding’s alleged drug trafficking organization, which is accused of using commercial transport trucks to move massive amounts of cocaine and fentanyl from Colombia, through Mexico and California and into Canada.
The group has also been linked to multiple unsolved murders, including at least four murders in Ontario, the outlet reported.
Virk and Rowal were travelling back to Ontario from California when they were allegedly busted trying to cross the Blue Water Bridge from Michigan into Sarnia with 95 kilograms of cocaine bricks and 20 kilograms of heroin in a “non-factory” compartment in their truck’s trailer.
They attempted to hide the drugs by carrying legal goods and documentation; however, an X-ray scanner and sniffer dog allegedy revealed the secret nook.
Virk and Rowal — Indian citizens who hold permanent resident status in Canada — were among 16 alleged members of Wedding’s drug ring named in a U.S. grand jury indictment unsealed last October.
The indictment listed the pair as part of a transportation network that handled Wedding’s shipments to Canada.
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They each agreed to plead guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute cocaine, according to documents filed this month in U.S. District Court in L.A.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
An alleged leader of the transportation network, Gurpreet Singh, and his uncle, Hardeep Ratte, are accused of coordinating cocaine shipments to Canada for Wedding.
They are both in custody in Ontario while facing extradition to the U.S.
They are set to appear in a Toronto court on Wednesday.
Wedding is still allegedly trafficking drugs while on the lam and has access to a “network of hitmen,” according to prosecutors stateside.
Wedding, whose aliases include “The Boss,” “Public Enemy,” “Giant” and “El Jefe,” competed for Canada at the 2002 Olympic Games in Utah.
He is now one of the FBI’s most-wanted fugitives, with a (US)$10-million reward offered for information leading to his capture.
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