A small-time 色色啦 criminal was recruited by cartel figures, flown to Mexico for 鈥渕ilitary training,鈥 and then sent to target a hit list of enemies of a cross-border drug ring led by a fugitive ex-Olympic snowboarder, an explosive set of new FBI documents claim.
And, according to the records obtained by the Star, it all came to light by chance 鈥 when a local Ontario police force conducted a traffic stop and seized a single white iPhone.
The documents, being presented in a 色色啦 court, offer the clearest picture yet of the U.S. investigation into a murderous drug-trafficking organization allegedly run by former Canadian Olympian Ryan James Wedding and his second-in-command, Andrew Clark.
The Canadian pair are accused of directing a billion-dollar drug-trafficking conspiracy that worked with cartels to smuggle tonnes of cocaine into Canada each year. They鈥檙e also accused of orchestrating a series of murders in Ontario, including the Nov. 20, 2023 killings of an innocent Indian couple in Caledon.
The new details are contained in a record of the FBI-led investigation, filed in extradition hearings for four GTA men. One of those men is Malik Cunningham, a 23-year-old from the Jane Falstaff area of North York. According to the documents, Cunningham was hired by Clark, then trained in Mexico and instructed to kill enemies of the enterprise.
None of the allegations in either Canadian or U.S. court documents have been tested in court.聽
Taken as a whole, the documents reveal a terrifying picture of the recruitment of one young 色色啦 man into the orbit of some of the world’s most notorious organized crime groups.
A fake licence plate
By April 14, 2024, the FBI and RCMP had already been working for months to take down Wedding鈥檚 alleged crime network in a complex investigation relying on a trusted inside man. This was when, in an apparent coincidence, a set of York Regional Police officers stopped a green Ford Explorer just north of the border with 色色啦, near Jane Street and Highway 407.
The truck, which had been spotted near a funeral for a recent homicide victim, was flagged because of a fraudulently registered Alberta licence plate. According to a York officer’s account, Cunningham, the driver, was arrested for possessing property obtained by crime, and told him the vehicle would be seized.
But first, Cunningham asked for a green Dollarama bag from the driver-side floor; the officer found it stuffed with $20, $50 and $100 bills, wrapped in elastic bands.
The documents explain that a more thorough search found seven rounds of 9-mm ammunition, four cellphones and another large sum of cash 鈥 more than $100,000 in total.
At the time, York police would have known Cunningham had a criminal record and had only recently been released from the 色色啦 South Detention Centre 鈥 but little more. Among other things, Cunningham was charged that afternoon with failing to comply with a lifetime weapons ban; in custody, he asked for one of the four phones, a white iPhone, to retrieve contact information for potential sureties.
Randy Fader, 29.
Patterson Funeral 色色啦Meanwhile, Niagara Regional Police were separately investigating a brazen murder.聽
Two weeks earlier, on April 1, 2024, Niagara police had found 29-year-old Randy Fader dead from a single gunshot. According to an eyewitness, Fader 鈥 a red-headed dual U.S. and Canadian citizen 鈥 had been approached by a gunman dressed in black, then shot in the head from about three feet away before the killer drove off in a white Audi SUV.聽
According to the documents, now based on the accounts of Niagara officers, CCTV footage traced the Audi back to North York. The occupants parked in , got into a green Ford Explorer with Alberta plates, and drove off.
Niagara police soon made the connection to Cunningham鈥檚 arrest by York police, and the investigation zeroed in on a specific cellphone: his white iPhone. They sought a search warrant and, on April 25, 2024, they searched it to find hundreds of messages sent via the encrypted messaging apps Threema and Signal.
Among them was a photograph Cunningham allegedly sent two days after Fader鈥檚 murder. It showed a pistol and cash with the caption: 鈥淕ood night!鈥
Investigators had their breakthrough.
Orders to an international hit man
According to the messages, Fader was the first 鈥 but not the only 鈥 鈥渆nemy鈥 on a hit list sent to Cunningham by Clark, the alleged right-hand man to the Wedding crime network, who guided his young charge through the how-tos of international assassination, along with the perks.
Among the targets discussed in the messages were a 鈥渞ealtor in Van鈥 for $200,000; 鈥渟ome arabs鈥 worth 鈥渁 couple hundo each鈥; a 鈥渕exi鈥 who owned a restaurant and his wife; 鈥渉oncho鈥 for 150; someone named 鈥淒onny鈥 for $300,000; and a person in Dubai for 鈥1 mil USD.鈥
All told, Cunningham could make 鈥渁 nice 1.5 mil this year if we keep knocking em out the park quick.鈥
The messages included details about how to use a GPS tracker on a target鈥檚 car, how to use a target鈥檚 鈥渂——鈥 to get close, tips on getting grenade launchers and firearms, planning contract killings, avoiding detection by law enforcement, and procuring fake Mexican passports.聽
But first, Cunningham would travel to Mexico for 鈥渕ilitary training.鈥
At the time, he鈥檇 only been out of jail for a month聽when Clark allegedly made the offer via a conversation on Signal.
鈥淲e got lots of work bro,鈥 one message read.
鈥淏rother I can鈥檛 wait to get to work.鈥
It鈥檚 been one year since Jagtar and Harbhajan Sidhu were killed in a “mistaken identity” attack
According to the records taken from the iPhone, Cunningham flew from 色色啦 to Mexico for five days in March 2024 to complete a $100,000 course, which included training in 鈥渟mall arms long guns,鈥 鈥渕edic鈥 and 鈥渟nipers.鈥
鈥淚 am what you call now ELITE thanks to you brother,鈥 Cunningham allegedly wrote Clark from Mexico.
After Cunningham鈥檚 return on March 18, they discussed plans for multiple murder contracts, the FBI records say.
鈥淕ive me the easiest one first,鈥 Cunningham allegedly said, adding he鈥檇 need a fake ID, a getaway car and a place to dispose of the gun.
鈥淢aybe the niagra falls ginger lol,鈥 Clark allegedly replied. 鈥淏ut its not much 100k and I鈥檒l pay expenses.鈥
It would be a 鈥渄riveway job鈥 鈥 鈥淏low this guys top off.鈥
The FBI鈥檚 parallel investigation
According to the court records, U.S. authorities only learned about Randy Fader鈥檚 murder on July 18, 2024; the timeline of the investigations makes clear that the messages uncovered on Cunningham鈥檚 iPhone were a key moment in the collapse of the Wedding drug-trafficking network.
Clark was eventually arrested in October in Mexico by members of that country鈥檚 naval forces. Earlier this month, he was among 29 alleged Mexican drug cartel leaders sent to the U.S. in an unprecedented mass handover. He is accused of being the 鈥渓ogistical link鈥 between the notorious Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels 鈥 both of which were .
Andrew Clark, the alleged right-hand man in the Wedding drug ring, was one of 29 drug cartel
Both he and Cunningham, who was born in North Carolina and is a dual citizen, are facing American charges because Fader鈥檚 murder was allegedly ordered in the furtherance of a U.S. criminal enterprise.
Asked why Cunningham was not charged for a homicide that occurred on Canadian soil, a Niagara police spokesperson declined to answer and instead referred the Star to the media release announcing the U.S. investigation.
Cunningham remains in Ontario awaiting his extradition hearing. Documents from 色色啦 court list his home address at highrise apartment complex on Falstaff Avenue near Jane Street.
In general, extradition courts weigh the strength of a foreign prosecution to decide if an accused person should be sent out of Canada to stand trial. The judge must determine if the evidence would be聽.
Connections made in prison
How exactly a young North York criminal could have come onto the radar of an alleged Mexican cartel boss remains unclear.
Cunningham鈥檚 criminal record includes convictions for offences committed in custody at the 色色啦 South jail. In January 2020, he allegedly attempted to start a riot by making and distributing weapons of opportunity. He was ultimately convicted of mischief and making a threat to cause bodily harm to a jail guard.聽
Former Mexican crime journalist Luis H. N谩jera described prisons as 鈥減laygrounds鈥 and 鈥渟chools鈥 for crime 鈥 a place for people like Cunningham to forge connections in the criminal world.
It鈥檚 common for brokers of the drug trade to recruit local, lesser-known criminals to do their dirty work, explained Anna Sergi, a lecturer in criminology at Essex University in England who has profiled Ontario鈥檚 organized crime landscape.
Cocaine trafficking is more 鈥渢rans-local鈥 than transnational, she said, describing how criminal networks rely on local connections to move drugs across borders quickly. Those willing to carry out the work, whether it be drug shipments or targeted murders, are likely either desperate for recognition or desperate to make money, she said.
鈥淚f you work for a big cocaine cartel, then you get recognition, which means you can grow up in your underworld,鈥 she added.
From the cartel perspective, she continued, digging deep into the local level is extremely profitable because it lets you start to 鈥渃onquer鈥 lucrative new regions.
Young recruits are disposable and can be cheaper to hire than bringing someone in from Mexico, N谩jera said. Their connections to high-level crime are also 鈥渓oose,鈥 he added, meaning it could be hard for authorities to trace who ordered an assassination.
Where are Wedding and Clark now?
In their descriptions of the Wedding drug-trafficking organizations, investigators have painted a picture of an alleged drug lord who will stop at nothing to get his way.
Wedding, who remains a fugitive, is believed to be south of the U.S. border. In a recent letter filed in 色色啦 court, U.S. prosecutors wrote that he 鈥渃ontinues to traffic drugs while in hiding.鈥澛
The FBI has previously said he and Clark lived in Mexico under the protection of the Sinaloa Cartel, once led by Joaqu铆n (El Chapo) Guzm谩n.
Wedding has leveraged a 鈥渘etwork for hit men鈥 to order the murders of not聽only his group鈥檚 enemies, but also to target 鈥渋nnocent family members,鈥 the documents say.
Allegedly among them are Jagtar Singh Sidhu, 57, and his wife Harbhajan Kaur Sidhu, 55, who were killed inside a Caledon home in November 2023 in a case of mistaken identity. Their daughter, Jaspreet, was shot 13 times and survived.
They were mistakenly targeted, the FBI said, over a stolen cocaine shipment.
The loss of a key witness
In total, 16 people have been indicted over the Wedding criminal enterprise.聽
The FBI documents also offer new details on how the investigation relied heavily on a key confidential witness embedded in the trafficking network.
That witness, whom the Star has identified as 42-year-old Canadian citizen Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, was killed in Medellin, Colombia, in late January in an apparent assassination.
Canadian Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia was killed in a daylight shooting in Medellin, Colombia, late
It is not yet clear what effect Acebedo-Garcia鈥檚 killing will have on the ongoing investigation; the FBI records presented in 色色啦 court predate the killing.
According to those documents 鈥 which do not name Acebedo-Garcia 鈥 he agreed to work as a confidential informant in exchange for favourable treatment over his role in the trafficking ring. The records explain that he was set to be identified prior to trial, and was expected to testify in person.
The witness was expected to testify that he met Wedding in 2011 while both were incarcerated at the same Texas prison, and that he communicated with Wedding using encrypted messages almost daily or weekly since around 2013. His role was to oversee the delivery of cocaine to couriers for transport to customers in Canada, and then launder the proceeds back to Wedding in Mexico.
The FBI documents also detail how, in January 2024, the witness met Wedding and Clark in Mexico City while wearing a wire.
In recorded conversations, Clark allegedly explained that he sends two to three thousand kilograms of cocaine each month to places in Canada, including about 600 kilograms a month to Alberta.
The Mexico meetings set in motion a plan to arrange shipments of more than 650 kilograms of cocaine from the Los Angeles area into Canada using a GTA-based transportation network allegedly run by Hardeep Ratte and his nephew Gurpreet Singh 鈥 also among the four men in Canadian custody facing extradition to the U.S.
The bail hearing for Singh began last week and is expected to resume in court next week.
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