A Punjabi-origin crime blogger from Mississauga has been arrested in a sweeping US–Canadian crackdown targeting an alleged transnational cocaine empire run by former Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding. The arrest of 31-year-old Gursewak Singh Bal, co-founder of the “Dirty Newz” website, came during coordinated November 19 raids that investigators described as “an unprecedented clampdown on transnational narco-terrorism.”
The joint enforcement effort, codenamed Operation Giant Slalom, led to seven arrests in Canada and is now moving toward extradition proceedings in the United States. According to reports in Global News and Edmonton City News, Bal was allegedly paid USD 10,000 not only to suppress coverage of Wedding and another accused, Clark, but to publish the image of a protected witness targeted for assassination.
“Bal… was reportedly paid $10,000 not to post about Wedding and Clark, and was instead given a photograph of the witness and was paid to post it so that he could be found and killed,” Global News reported, citing the indictment. On November 5, 2024, he allegedly posted an image of the victim on Instagram with the caption: “This guy single-handedly (rat emoji) out one of the strongest underworld networks that this (earth emoji) has seen. Good chance he’ll never be found again.”
CityNews noted that Bal was arrested as part of the latest actions under Operation Giant Slalom and that “law enforcement seized ‘The Dirty News’ website pursuant to a federal warrant.”
Federal authorities allege Bal’s online posts directly assisted in the murder of the witness, identified in filings as Jonathan Acebedo-Garcia, who “was shot and killed at a restaurant in Medellín, Colombia, in January 2025.” The indictment adds that Bal continued to post about the killing. On January 31, 2025, he allegedly uploaded an Instagram story showing a photograph of the restaurant, part of a body on the floor, and captions reading: “[Victim A] down…” and “BOOM! Headshot.”
Canadian police also arrested Wedding’s lawyer, Deepak Paradkar, along with several alleged accomplices linked to the smuggling operation. “Canadian law enforcement arrested seven people connected to Wedding’s cocaine smuggling operation,” officials said, adding that US prosecutors are now seeking extradition of Bal and others to face charges of racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder, and drug trafficking.
Yahoo News reported that evidence against Bal includes encrypted communications seized by the FBI and RCMP. US Justice Department documents say Bal and his co-accused “face life imprisonment if convicted,” while the FBI has formally seized “The Dirty Newz” blog.
Wedding, described by US authorities as “extremely violent and extremely wealthy,” remains at large and is believed to be sheltered by Sinaloa Cartel operatives in Mexico. The State Department announced that the reward for information leading to his capture has been increased to USD 15 million.
