Inside ex-Olympian Ryan Wedding’s drug empire: The hidden story of Indo-Canadians in smuggling ring

A Toronto-area trucker has been sentenced to more than six years in a US federal prison for attempting to smuggle cocaine into Canada on behalf of fugitive Ryan James Wedding’s alleged drug network.

 Also read: Punjabi-origin crime blogger arrested in international drug kingpin case

Gursewak Bal, Punjabi-origin crime blogger in Canada, ‘was paid by drug network to publish pics of witnesses online to help locate them’

Special to The Tribune: Truckers’ pleas bring role of Indo-Canadians in drug trade under lens

Wedding is an alleged drug trafficker and former Olympic snowboarder from Canada. He represented Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics in the men's parallel giant slalom event.

Ranjit Singh Rowal, 65, is the first Canadian resident convicted in the two-year FBI-led investigation targeting Wedding and his associates—a sprawling, international operation that resulted in 11 additional arrests last week.

The case highlights a central feature of the $1-billion criminal network: using transport trucks to move Colombian cocaine, fentanyl and other drugs from Southern California to destinations in Canada and the US.

Rowal and another driver, Iqbal Singh Virk, 57, were arrested in August 2024 while attempting to cross the Blue Water Bridge from Michigan into Sarnia, Ontario. Authorities found 95 kilograms of cocaine and 20 kilograms of heroin hidden in a secret compartment in their truck.

Rowal pleaded guilty to two counts related to a cocaine distribution conspiracy and was sentenced to six years and two months in federal prison. US prosecutors noted that Rowal, an Indian citizen, is likely to have his Canadian permanent residence revoked due to “serious criminality,” citing RCMP records. Virk has also pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in March.

Both men were named in a 53-page grand jury indictment identifying Wedding, 44, as the leader of a violent, transnational criminal enterprise. Wedding, currently believed to be hiding in Mexico, is on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list and is considered Canada’s largest cocaine importer.

According to new court filings, Wedding’s network, in cooperation with Mexican drug cartels, transported hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Mexico, then relied on truckers to move shipments further north to the US and Canada.

Last week, Canadian authorities arrested eight people connected to the case, including alleged money launderers, Wedding’s lawyer Deepak Paradkar and crime blogger Gursewak Singh Bal, who is suspected of involvement in a plot to murder an FBI witness.

Court documents also reveal the inner workings of Wedding’s transportation network. Rowal and Virk concealed drugs by transporting legitimate goods with proper documentation, but were caught during a secondary inspection at the border. An X-ray scan and a sniffer dog detected a hidden compartment.

The investigation also uncovered internal disputes within the trafficking operation. In May 2024, a shipment was cancelled after disagreements over payment for a reduced cocaine load, highlighting tensions among network members.

Singh and his uncle, Hardeep Ratte, accused of coordinating cocaine shipments to Canada for Wedding, remain in custody in Ontario while facing extradition to the US.