Alleged accomplice in former Olympian’s cocaine ring to face charges in US
An accused accomplice in a $1 billion drug ring allegedly led by former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been brought to the U.S. from Mexico to face federal charges, the U.S. Justice Department announced Friday in a release provided to Fox News Digital.
Andrew Clark, a 34-year-old Canadian citizen who was living in Mexico, was arrested by Mexican authorities in October 2024 and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in Arizona.
“The defendant, as described in the superseding indictment, played a key role in running a violent, international drug trafficking organization that was responsible for multiple murders,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph T. McNally said in Friday’s announcement. “We are grateful to have him in the United States where he will face justice. When law enforcement officials around the globe work together, there is nowhere criminals can hide.”
Clark, also known as “The Dictator,” allegedly controlled a $1 billion drug enterprise with supply routes that transported tons of cocaine from Colombia to Canada through Mexico and Southern California.
Wedding, who competed in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City for Canada, faces drug trafficking charges in Canada dating back to 2015, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather.
Wedding was previously convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show.
According to the superseding indictment, Wedding and Clark directed the murders of two individuals and the attempted murder of a third victim in Ontario, Canada, in November 2023. They also allegedly ordered the murder of a fourth individual in May 2024.
Clark and another co-defendant are charged with the murder of a fifth individual in Ontario, Canada, in April 2024.
From March 2024 to August 2024, Wedding and Clark conspired with others to distribute over 1,800 kilograms of cocaine. They also transferred approximately a quarter of a billion dollars from April 2024 to September 2024, with investigators seizing more than $3 million from one cryptocurrency wallet in a single day.
Clark is the second named defendant in the superseding indictment that charges a total of 16 defendants. With Clark’s expected court appearance, a total of eight defendants will have been arraigned in this case. The trial of Clark’s alleged co-conspirators is scheduled to begin May 6.
Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures like Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz, and Roger Clemens.
