U.S. prosecutors are warning {that a} Toronto-area man accused of co-ordinating hundreds of thousands of {dollars}’ price of cocaine shipments — on behalf of a murderous drug ring allegedly run by former Olympian Ryan Marriage ceremony — has entry to a prison community in Dubai and will flee if he is launched on bail.
Hardeep Ratte appeared in a Toronto courtroom on Monday as he seeks bail whereas awaiting U.S. extradition proceedings. He is dealing with drug trafficking fees in California, amid allegations he acted as Marriage ceremony’s principal co-ordinator for smuggling cocaine shipments from Los Angeles to Canada.
Ratte, who’s from Brampton, Ont., was arrested in October as U.S. authorities named 10 Canadians sought as accomplices in what prosecutors described as Marriage ceremony’s transnational prison enterprise. The group allegedly used transport vans to maneuver huge portions of Colombian cocaine by means of North America.
Canadian Ryan Marriage ceremony, a former Olympic snowboarder and accused drug kingpin, continues to be at massive and sure has a ‘community of hitmen,’ U.S. prosecutors say. In the meantime, his accused confederate Hardeep Ratte appeared in a Toronto courtroom for the second day of a bail listening to.
Marriage ceremony, who competed for Group Canada as a snowboarder on the 2002 Olympic Video games in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, stays on the run. Investigators have linked his alleged $1-billion US crime ring to 4 murders in southern Ontario, together with the mistaken-identity shootings of an Indian couple.
Ratte, 46, wore a gray Roots Canada T-shirt within the prisoner field on Monday morning and waved at relations seated close to the again of the courtroom. Six of his relations every pledged $200,000 for Ratte to be granted bail and launched on home arrest as he awaits his extradition listening to.
‘A considerable danger of flight’
In keeping with a letter from U.S. prosecutors entered as an exhibit in Ontario Superior Courtroom, authorities imagine Ratte “presents a considerable danger of flight” if launched from custody. He faces a compulsory life sentence if convicted within the U.S.
Ratte’s nephew Gurpreet Singh is amongst three different associates detained in Ontario and wished by U.S. prosecutors to face trial in California.
“By his nephew,” U.S. prosecutors wrote, “Ratte has entry to a classy organized crime community in Dubai from whom he may simply search safety if charged on this case, however not detained.”
Prosecutors allege that between January and August 2024, Ratte orchestrated shipments of greater than 650 kilograms of cocaine for Marriage ceremony’s community, with a road worth in Los Angeles of between $8.45 million and $9.1 million US. Authorities stated Ratte was discovered to have made frequent journeys to Mexico, the place investigators suspect Marriage ceremony could also be hiding.
“Ratte’s prison conduct…. makes him a hazard to the neighborhood,” wrote Los Angeles-based assistant U.S. attorneys Maria Jhai and Lyndsi Allsop.
In keeping with courtroom filings, RCMP recorded a gathering in Toronto on Feb. 22, 2024, involving Ratte, his nephew Singh and a co-operating witness who was in direct contact with Marriage ceremony and his “second-in-command,” Andrew Clark. U.S. prosecutors allege that on the February assembly, Ratte agreed to maneuver cocaine for Marriage ceremony at a price of $220,000 Cdn per cargo.
Ratte’s lawyer Ravin Pillay underlined his shopper is presumed harmless and questioned whether or not the video of the in-person assembly could be clear sufficient to establish Ratte.
“There’s nothing earlier than you to counsel he’ll flee,” Pillay informed Superior Courtroom Justice Michael Dineed at a listening to earlier this month. “The chance of flight is only speculative.”
Ratte’s bail listening to is scheduled to renew on Wednesday.
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