Toronto-area lawyer Deepak Paradkar, who is facing extradition to the United States on charges tied to the sprawling case against alleged cocaine kingpin and fugitive Ryan Wedding, argued for his release on bail Wednesday, telling the court that he is prepared to post as much as $5-million.

Mr. Paradkar, 62, is accused of murder conspiracy in the killing of a witness for the FBI who was expected to testify against Mr. Wedding. Wearing a blue blazer and with a grey beard, Mr. Paradkar appeared in the witness box in Ontario Superior Court to make a plea for his interim release from jail, where he has been held since his arrest in November, pending the outcome of his extradition proceeding.

The Toronto-area lawyer for alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding and a Vancouver man accused of laundering money for the former Olympic snowboarder appeared in court Wednesday as part of proceedings to extradite them to the U.S.

Two other men who are among the eight Canadians charged last week in relation to the alleged international drug-trafficking ring also had scheduled court appearances on Wednesday.

In October, 2024, police in Arkansas pulled over two vehicles carrying 521 kilograms of cocaine bound for Canada. Within hours, court records say, bosses in a powerful drug cartel were discussing “killing everyone involved” to keep them from talking to investigators.

Soon, a lawyer from Brampton, Ont., allegedly weighed into a group chat with the cartel’s leaders with strict instructions: “Clear this convo,” he said, adding “set up a separate group for you” and “only lawyer stuff for me.”

Claudette MacLean was frantic with worry. Her son, Avery Dixon, had not responded to text messages for 23 hours, and she knew something was wrong.

Mr. Dixon also hadn’t shown up for his shift at the hospital, where he cleaned and delivered meals.

Law-enforcement officials say there are nine people from Canada they have either arrested or are looking for as part of a larger investigation into Ryan Wedding, the former Canadian snowboarder who is accused of running a violent international drug-trafficking operation.

Many of the new details released in court documents on Wednesday relate to the alleged murder of Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, a witness in Colombia.

Who is Ryan Wedding, the former Canadian Olympic snowboarder on the FBI’s Most Wanted list?

U.S. and Canadian authorities announced new arrests, indictments and sanctions on Wednesday connected to what they allege is a violent international drug-trafficking network run by Canadian ex-Olympic snowboarder turned fugitive Ryan Wedding, who remains in hiding in Mexico despite a multimillion-dollar reward and a manhunt that has stretched on more than a year.

Police arrested seven people across Canada: including a Toronto-area lawyer accused of advising Mr. Wedding to kill a witness in Colombia; an accused drug dealer in Montreal alleged to have been involved in orchestrating the killing; and a jeweller in Toronto accused of helping Mr. Wedding launder money. Two others are wanted but were not in custody as of Wednesday.

A company under police review for alleged irregularities with Ontario government contracts released an audio recording on Tuesday that it says supports its claim that Premier Doug Ford’s government is trying to make the firm a “scapegoat” to deflect a controversy over its worker training fund.

Keel Digital Solutions released an 18-second audio clip from what it said was a July 22 discussion between CEO Rob Godfrey and a senior auditor conducting a forensic audit.

An Ontario company under police review for alleged “suspicious activity” related to provincial funding is accusing Premier Doug Ford’s government of blurring facts to dodge accountability over a controversial worker-training fund.

In a statement Monday, Keel Digital Solutions demanded the government provide a copy of the full forensic audit of the company that it referred to the Ontario Provincial Police. Keel operates an artificial-intelligence-driven virtual mental-health counselling platform for students and police officers.

The Doug Ford government says it has sent the Ontario Provincial Police the results of a forensic audit scrutinizing a company that received about $40-million from the province – including millions from a controversial worker-training fund.

The Office of the Premier also said the government is reviewing all payments made to the company and could take further action.