A Calgary man, arrested on extradition warrants in connection with an FBI operation targeting an alleged Canadian drug kingpin made a brief court appearance Friday.
Allistair Chapman, 33, is accused of providing a photo to one of his co-accused and paying him to post it to a website to locate and kill a witness before he could testify against Ryan Wedding, the alleged leader of a transnational criminal organization.
Chapman, who was arrested along with several others this week, faces extradition to California on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to commit murder, allegations of conspiracy to retaliate against a witness and other offences.
Wearing a blue prison jumpsuit, Chapman appeared in Calgary court in person, to have his case adjourned until Dec. 5.
U.S. indictments for Wedding’s arrest allege the former Olympic snowboarder conspired to bring bulk amounts of cocaine into the United States and Canada and was also involved in violence and murder to maintain his drug ring.
Wedding is believed to be hiding in Mexico and the U.S. State Department has increased the reward for information leading to the his arrest to US$15 million.
Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File
