Deepak Balwant Paradkar, a 62-year-old lawyer of Indian origin, was among 10 defendants arrested in connection to Canadian Olympic star-turned-alleged drug lord Ryan James Wedding. Now dubbed the “Cocaine Lawyer,” the Canadian man was taken into custody Tuesday (US time), according to the US Justice Department.
Wedding, a former Team Canada Olympic athlete, has long been accused of being the mastermind of a multi-billion-dollar drug trafficking ring. The operation is said to have used several modes of transportation, including boats, semi-trucks and planes, to send out tons of cocaine from Columbia. These drugs would be transported through Mexico to reach the US and Canada.
The former Olympic snowboarder is now on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List, as per a US government press release. The illegal operation he backed allegedly began “no later than on or about December 7, 2011, and continuing until on or about October 28, 2025.”
Canadian ‘cocaine lawyer’ to be extradited to the US
Paradkar has been named as one of Wedding’s associates who along with the ex-snowboarder allegedly “imported tons of cocaine each year from Colombia through Mexico and onto the streets of U.S. communities,” as per FBI Director Kash Patel.
The Greater Toronto Area criminal barrister was born in India, as per Canadian outlet The Globe and Mail. His parents brought him to Canada at age 7. Thereafter, he earned his legal license in Ontario in 1993. Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested him at his Thornhill home on Tuesday.
He served as Wedding’s legal counsel. Paradkar will be facing charges in the Central District of California over allegedly advising Wedding and his No 2, Andrew Clark, to kill an FBI witness so that they could avoid extradition to Mexico in a separate criminal case. The victim in question died in a January 31 murder in Columbia.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s revelations at a recent press conference determined that Deepak is facing extradition to the United States. The US federal indictment about an alleged drug smuggling ring unsealed Wednesday refers to Paradkar as “cocaine_lawyer,” alluding to his social media user handle.
In addition to the aforementioned allegations, Paradkar has been accused of handing out official court documents and arranged meeting with people “either arrested, indicted or under investigation” through his networking with lawyers he had tasked to represent the said individuals.
The Indian-Canadian lawyer and others arrested recently are facing several charges, including conspiracy to commit murder and drug trafficking, according to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) commissioner Michael Duheme.
If convicted, Paradkar, along with Wedding and the other defendants, would face a maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
The press release listing alleged “associates of Wedding’s enterprise” is also said to include the lawyer’s 27-year-old daughter, Madeline. As per the US Justice Dept, she is also a lawyer like her father, but lives in California, USA. Although not linked to any criminal proceedings so far, the US government is set to initiate an immigration action against the Canadian national.
Indian-origin Canadian lawyer: Connections to high-profile cases
Leading Canadian news outlet CBC reported that the Indian-origin Canadian “Cocaine Lawyer” had long enjoyed his time in the spotlight as a defence lawyer for some of southern Ontario’s most headline-making criminal cases.
Paradkar has managed to stay at the centre of Ontario legal circles for decades. Various snaps from outside courthouses have captured him engaging in worst interviews with reporters.
As it turns out, this is not the first Paradkar has been incriminated alongside his own legal client. In one such high-profile case from the past, he was once on track to represent serial killer Dellen Millard in the Timothy Bosma murder case. However, he unexpected dropped out in 2016.
Court documents released later eventually disclosed that the Indian-Canadian lawyer was linked to the illegal smuggling of secret letters between Millard and his girlfriend. The serial killer sent those writings from jail, trying his all to influence witnesses linked to the trial.
Paradkar rejected the allegations. Although he wasn’t charged with a crime, his name got etched on records linked to the case. He also never gave a reason for dropping it.
He even represented Kazakhstan-born Hamilton hacker Karim Baratov, who was sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in a Yahoo breach organised by a Russian intelligence agency.
Deepak Paradkar’s online activity
Shockingly, the Brampton criminal lawyer was responding to Google reviews linked to his legal practice as recently as a week ago. It has since been marked as “permanently closed” online.
Years-old social media activity on the Indian origin lawyer’s Instagram account reportedly showed mentions of cocaine in addition to references to drug busts. His IG profile bore the username “@cocaine_lawyer” until 2017.
According to Toronto Sun’s analysis of his feed from that time, Deepak once posted a snap of his yellow Lamborghini. A comment under the post read, “Cocaine pays lol!!!”
Another share shed light on a few photos featuring drugs and guns captured by the police. The caption read: “100 kilos of K 4 kilos of cocaine, 5 guns, Uzi, glock — NOT GUILTY!”
One such post highlighting a cocaine charges case particularly landed him in troubled with the Law Society of Ontario in 2017. At the time, a regulatory notice red-flagged him for engaging in “improper advertising and public communications,” according to The Globe and Mail’s report.
His other aliases include “Deepaj Emergency,” and “Descartes,” according to CTV News. Paradkar’s now-deleted LinkedIn profile read, “I am a criminal trial lawyer. I have 28 years of experience conducting high profile criminal cases, including murder, organized crime, drugs.”
Currently, Toronto lawyer Ravin Pillay is representing Paradkar.
