A Canadian man accused of running a transnational drug trafficking organization with a former Olympic snowboarder allegedly hired a 23-year-old 海角社区官网hit man to 鈥渕urder enemies鈥 of the drug ring, court records say.
In the documents, Canadian police detail U.S. allegations that Andrew Clark, 34 鈥 the 鈥渟econd in command鈥 of a cocaine trafficking enterprise at the centre of a massive FBI investigation announced this month 鈥 contacted Malik Damion Cunningham with an offer to kill a list of targets. Those included a 29-year-old Niagara man who was later shot dead on April 1.
鈥淕ive me the easiest one first,鈥 Cunningham allegedly told Clark over the encrypted messaging app Threema on March 18, adding that he needed a fake ID, a car and a place to dispose of the gun.
鈥淢aybe the niagra falls ginger lol,鈥 Clark allegedly wrote back. 鈥淏ut its not much 100k and I鈥檒l pay expenses.鈥
The accusations against Clark and Cunningham are contained in a statement of facts 鈥斅爋btained by the Star and 鈥 recently filed in Superior Court at extradition hearings for Cunningham and three others. They are all facing U.S. charges for their alleged roles in a massive drug trafficking conspiracy linked to ex-snowboarder Ryan James Wedding, who was described last week as the 鈥淥lympic athlete-turned-drug lord鈥 at the head of a massive trafficking organization that has links to Mexican cartels and is behind at least four Ontario killings.聽
None of the allegations in either the Canadian or U.S. court documents have been tested at trial.
Among the charges, Cunningham and Clark are both accused of playing a role in the April 1 killing of Randy Fader, who was fatally shot in his driveway in Niagara Falls.
鈥淒rive over and blow this guys top off,鈥 Clark allegedly told Cunningham about Fader, a redhead whom authorities say was involved in international drug trafficking.聽
Clark and Wedding, who competed for Canada at the 2002 Salt Lake City games, are accused of being the co-leaders of a criminal network that has brought tonnes of cocaine into Canada and ordered multiple killings, including of an Indian couple who were the victims of mistaken identity.
Wedding is accused of 鈥渓eading a transnational organized crime group that engaged in cocaine trafficking and murder, including of innocent civilians,鈥 U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in .
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Wedding and Clark were living in Mexico under the protection of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, the FBI told the Star on Thursday. Clark was arrested there earlier this month, while Wedding remains at large.
He is now believed to be south of the U.S. border, an FBI spokesperson said.
Liam Price, the RCMP鈥檚 director-general of international special services, said the Canadian force has been working with the FBI on the case for more than a year, but Wedding has been on the radar since at least the mid-2010s.
Wedding is 鈥渁 significant figure in the transnational organized crime landscape at a global level,鈥 he said.
A sweeping indictment released by U.S. authorities last week names 16 people, 12 of whom have been arrested in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Sharing the names and allegations against the men was important to protect public safety and disrupt the groups鈥 ability to operate, Price said.
鈥淲e look forward to working to locate Mr. Wedding and the other outstanding people that are wanted in partnership with the FBI and others,鈥 he said.
The indictment聽describes an elaborate operation in which Canadian dispatchers allegedly used an encrypted messaging app, secret compartments and coded language to move several shipments of cocaine from Southern California into Canada.
According to the Canadian court documents, investigators began working with a confidential witness embedded in the organization starting in 2023.
That witness, who had worked for Wedding for over a decade, met with Clark and Wedding in Mexico City in January 2024 to arrange a cocaine shipment to Canada.
In a recorded conversation with Clark, Clark allegedly directed the witness to offer a pair of Ontario-based truckers 鈥 Hardeep Ratte and Gurpreet Singh 鈥 a flat rate of between $175,000 and $225,000 per shipment; with each transporting up to 350 kilograms of cocaine.聽
The allegations against Ratte and Singh have also not been tested in court.聽
While organizing the shipments, the documents detail how the confidential witness swapped a phone number and faked their identity to allow authorities to monitor the organization鈥檚 communications.
In early April, Ratte and Singh allegedly agreed to move a shipment that was later 鈥 with the assistance of the confidential witness 鈥 intercepted at a meetup of two couriers in Riverside, Calif., with the search turning up 375 kilograms of cocaine.
The couriers for Ratte and Singh鈥檚 transportation network have been identified as Rakhim Ibragimov and Gennadii Bilonog. Ibragimov, Cunningham, Ratte and Singh are in custody awaiting the conclusion of their extradition hearings in 海角社区官网court. (Bilonog remains at large.)
According to the documents, U.S. authorities didn鈥檛 link Cunningham to the April 1 killing of Randy Fader in Niagara Falls until July.
Wedding and a list of 15 other defendants are shown with seized cocaine at a news conference at the FBI offices in Los Angeles on Oct. 17.
Damian Dovarganes/APThat鈥檚 when an RCMP agent stationed in Los Angeles advised the U.S. authorities about the homicide, revealing that the evidence collected from the suspect鈥檚 cellphone contained communications with Threema accounts known to be used by Clark, court documents say.
According to the records, Niagara police were able to track the suspect鈥檚 vehicle 鈥 a white Audi SUV 鈥 that travelled from the murder scene to Toronto.
About two weeks later, on April 14, Cunningham was arrested after a traffic stop, allegedly possessing nine-millimetre ammunition, more than $100,000 and four cell phones.
According to the documents, a search of one of those cell phones revealed communications between him and others linked to the Wedding and Clark enterprise 鈥 including the murder list of targets identified by Clark.
(The men have been charged under U.S. law because Fader鈥檚 killing was allegedly ordered in the furtherance of a U.S. criminal enterprise.)
Cunningham, who was born in North Carolina and lived in Toronto, has a history of criminal offences, including Ontario convictions for attempted murder and assault causing bodily harm, according to the court documents, which list his address at an apartment block near Falstaff Avenue and Jane Street in North York.
A total of 10 Canadians were named in the U.S. indictment.
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