"Give Me the Easiest One First." A Young US-Canadian Hitman Received "Military Training" in Mexico to Do Wedding's Dirty Work

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

A small-time Toronto criminal was recruited by cartel figures, flown to Mexico for “military training,” and then sent to target a hit list of enemies of a cross-border drug ring led by a fugitive ex-Olympic snowboarder, a new set of FBI documents claim.

According to authorities, it "all came to light by chance when a local Ontario police force conducted a traffic stop and seized a single white iPhone."

The documents, being presented in a Toronto 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 who is now in U.S. custody following his recent arrest in Mexico and extradition.

US-Canadian trafficker Randy "RJ" Fader was killed by Malik Cunningham, first on a long hit list supplied by Clark.

On April 1, 2024, Niagara police had found 29-year-old Randy Fader dead from a single gunshot. According to an eyewitness, Fader a dual U.S. and Canadian citizen, had been approached by a gunman dressed in black, then shot in the head. The killer fled in a white Audi SUV before it was abandoned. Then got into a green Ford Explorer with Alberta plates, and drove off according to camera footage sourced by police during the investigation.

By April 14, 2024, the FBI and RCMP had already been working for months to take down Wedding’s alleged crime network using the FBI's confidential informant who had long worked with Wedding. This was when, in an apparent coincidence, a pair of York Regional Police officers stopped a green Ford Explorer just north of the border with Toronto, near Jane Street and Highway 407.

Malik Cunningham had been out of jail for a month before conversations about training and hit targets began.

The SUV, which had been spotted near the funeral of different homicide victim was flagged because of a fraudulently registered Alberta licence plate. According to a York officer’s account, Malik Cunningham, the driver, was arrested for possessing property obtained by crime, and told him the vehicle would be seized.

Police found 9mm ammunition and 4 cell phones. One white iPhone contained encrypted messages of particular interest.

Niagara police soon made the connection from Cunningham’s arrest by York police, and the investigation into Wedding and Clark from the seized iPhone. They sought a search warrant on April 19, 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’s murder. It showed a pistol and cash with the caption: “Good night!”

According to the court records, U.S. authorities only learned about Randy Fader’s murder on July 18, 2024.

Both Andrew Clark and Malik Cunningham, who was born in North Carolina and is a dual citizen, are facing American charges because Fader’s murder was allegedly ordered in the furtherance of a U.S. criminal enterprise.

Andrew Clark following his arrest in Mexico.

Andrew Clark, who in 2020 described his occupation as elevator mechanic appears to have risen through the ranks in the world of Mexican drug cartels.

He was featured in a Toronto Life magazine article in April, 2020, highlighting how landlords were dealing with the first weeks of the pandemic. Clark said he and his wife had seven tenants in six properties, and that the couple was offering discounted rent for those impacted by COVID-19.

Andrew Clark was the landlord of 6 properties in Toronto in 2020.

"I wanted to show our tenants that I care about them, not just about them paying me," he said in an email seen by CBC. "We are lucky I have a good job and we are very frugal."

International Hit List

“Give me the easiest one first,” Cunningham allegedly told Clark over the encrypted messaging app Threema on March 18, 2024 adding that he needed a fake ID, a car and a place to dispose of the gun.

“Maybe the niagra falls ginger lol,” Clark allegedly wrote back. “But its not much 100k and I’ll pay expenses.”

According to the court documents, Clark also arranged for the alleged hitman, Malik Cunningham, to receive "military training" in Mexico last March 2024, and discussed "procuring grenade launchers and firearms."

According to the messages, Fader was the first but not the only “enemy” on a hit list sent to Cunningham by Clark, who guided the young killer through the how-tos of international assassination, along with the potential perks. A U.S. indictment lists 17 aliases for Andrew Clark, including "The Dictator" and "El Niño Problemático."

By April 1, the first, Randy Fader was killed. By April 14, Malik was in police custody after being pulled over. And on April 25, authorities learned about he others on the hit list.

It is possible, but not confirmed that the FBI informant who was killed in January of this year was part of this list. Or even if his cooperation was known to others at the time. Being he was a Canadian born man of Colombian parents; there are a couple of possibilities.

Among the targets discussed in the messages were:

• A “realtor in Van for $200,000"
• Some "arabs worth a couple hundo each” 
• A “mexi who owned a restaurant and his wife,"
• “Honcho for 150"
• Someone named “Donny” for $300,000
• A person in Dubai for “1 mil USD”

It was also reported that the FBI informant traveled to Dubai to conduct trafficking business and money laundering. Murders in Dubai are rare if not totally unheard of as it risks the current sanctuary enjoyed by several multinational drug traffickers residing in the country after being charged in their home countries. Many of whom have been recently arrested, deported or extradited to various countries they had been already convicted in.

A killing in Dubai would certainly be much higher risk and warrant the higher price. It is possible the Dubai target was Belgian trafficker Othman El-Ballouti who was threatened by Sinaloa Cartel leader "El Mayo's" faction over a large drug debt in 2023 and was arrested in late 2024 in Dubai.

All told, Cunningham could make “a nice 1.5 mil this year if we keep knocking em out the park quick.”

The messages also included details about how to:

• Use a GPS tracker on a target’s car
• How to use a target’s “bitch” to get close
• Tips on getting grenade launchers and firearms
• Planning contract killings
• Avoiding detection by law enforcement
• Procuring fake Mexican passports

But first, Cunningham would travel to Mexico for “military training.”

At the time, Malik had only been out of jail for a month when Clark allegedly made the offer using the Signal app.

“We got lots of work bro,” one message read. “Brother I can’t wait to get to work.”

Andrew Clark, now 34, was arrested in Jalisco, Mexico in 2024.

Training in Mexico

According to the email/travel and GPS records taken from the iPhone, Cunningham flew from Toronto to Mexico for five days in March 2024 to complete a $100,000 course, which included training in “small arms long guns,” “medic” and “snipers.”

“I am what you call now ELITE thanks to you brother,” Cunningham allegedly wrote Clark from Mexico. 

After Cunningham’s return on March 18, they discussed plans for multiple murder contracts, the FBI records say.

“Give me the easiest one first,” Cunningham allegedly said, adding he’d need a fake ID, a getaway car and a place to dispose of the gun.

“Maybe the niagra falls ginger lol,” Clark allegedly replied. “But its not much 100k and I’ll pay expenses.”

It would be a “driveway job” — “Blow this guys top off.”

Connections Made in Prison

How exactly a young, 23-year old North York criminal could have come onto the radar of an alleged Canadian-Mexican Cartel figure remains unclear.

Cunningham’s criminal record includes convictions for offences committed in custody at the Toronto 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.

Former Mexican crime journalist Luis H. Nájera describes prisons as “playgrounds” and “schools” for crime a place for people like Cunningham to forge connections in the criminal world.

It’s 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’s organized crime landscape.

Olympic Snowboarder turned trafficker Ryan James Wedding.

Cocaine trafficking is more “trans-local” 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.

A portion of the drugs seized during Operation Giant Slalom.

“If you work for a big cocaine cartel, then you get recognition, which means you can grow up in your underworld,” she added.

From the cartel perspective, she continued, digging deep into the local level is extremely profitable because it lets you start to “conquer” lucrative new regions.

Young recruits are disposable and can be cheaper to hire than bringing someone in from Mexico, Nájera said. Their connections to high-level crime are also “loose,” he added, meaning it could be hard for authorities to trace who originally ordered an assassination.

The men have been charged under U.S. law because Fader’s killing was allegedly ordered in the furtherance of a U.S. criminal enterprise. A total of 10 Canadians were named in the sweeping U.S. indictment.

Read Part 1 About the FBI Informant Killed in the Wedding Case

Sources Toronto Star, Borderland Beat, DOJ, CBC

Categories: Canada, ryan james wedding, sinaloa cartel