Montreal landlord accused of shipping meth to repay fugitive ex-Olympian
U.S. prosecutors say Nahim Jorge Bonilla part of cartel-linked crime ring allegedly led by Ryan Wedding
A Montreal landlord arrested last month in a pre-dawn raid on a Florida mansion has pleaded not guilty, after U.S. prosecutors said he shipped 20 kilograms of methamphetamine to repay a drug debt to a one-time Olympian.
A CBC News review of court files and business and property records sheds new light on the dramatic case surrounding Nahim Jorge Bonilla, one of 16 men indicted in a sprawling FBI operation targeting the transnational criminal enterprise allegedly run by Canadian fugitive Ryan Wedding.
Authorities allege Wedding's "ruthless and violent" network — linked to Mexico's notorious Sinaloa Cartel — moved vast quantities of Colombian cocaine through North America, including to the Toronto area. Wedding, who competed for Canada as a snowboarder at the 2002 Olympic Games, is listed as one of the FBI's "most wanted."
Bonilla, 36, faces one federal charge in Los Angeles related to participating in a cocaine distribution conspiracy with Wedding and his second-in-command, Andrew Clark.
Previously a Montreal bar owner, Bonilla relocated to the Miami area after a series of arsons at his home and a 2019 shooting outside a house that property records show was registered to his mother. His name still appears as the landlord for a penthouse apartment in Montreal's entertainment district, recently put up for sale for $797,000.
According to the U.S. indictment unsealed last month, Wedding, 43, threatened to kill Bonilla's mother this past June, if he didn't repay a cocaine debt. Prosecutors allege Bonilla, in turn, orchestrated the methamphetamine delivery to Quebec as a reimbursement.
The RCMP named Bonilla as one of 10 Canadians recently arrested or wanted in connection with the organized crime group. The network has been linked to at least four "execution-style" shootings in Ontario, including the mistaken-identity murders of an Indian couple.
Bonilla, whose aliases include "The One" and "$," was arrested by FBI agents at his Aventura, Fla., home on Oct. 16. In a video posted online, a loud bang is heard outside the waterfront mansion, and a voice over loudspeaker tells Bonilla in Spanish to come out with his hands up.
Property records seen by CBC show the reported five-bedroom, 6,697-square-foot home — listed earlier this year for $16.4 million US — was once owned by music producer DJ Khaled.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bonilla is the CEO of record label Ruido Callejero Music, and the owner of Mandrake Miami, a nightclub and restaurant currently listed on Google as temporarily closed.
Bonilla's Instagram profile shows him hobnobbing with several celebrities, including Khaled, rapper Ja Rule and NBA player Jae Crowder, formerly of the Miami Heat.
Intended target of 2019 shooting
A Quebec court found Bonilla was almost certainly the intended target of a gang-affiliated gunman who opened fire with a silencer-equipped pistol, in June 2019, outside a Saint-Eustache, Que., home owned by his mother.
He had just recently moved out of the suburban detached house. Photos and videos of Bonilla were later found in a mobile phone belonging to the gunman's getaway driver.
The late-night shooting left an innocent man seriously wounded.
Court records show Bonilla had relocated to nearby Laval earlier that year, after five luxury cars had been set on fire outside his Saint-Eustache residence. Within weeks, his new home in Laval had been broken into and also set ablaze.
Bonilla refused to speak to police about the incidents.
Meth shipment detailed in indictment
According to the recent 53-page U.S. grand jury indictment, Wedding and Clark would supply Bonilla with 12 kilograms of cocaine for him to then distribute. He would pay for seven kilograms upon delivery, while the duo would "front" him the remaining five kilograms.
In June 2024, however, Bonilla ran into trouble.
Federal prosecutors in California say Wedding — using coded language in the encrypted messaging app Threema — threatened to kill Bonilla's mother if he didn't repay those five kilograms within a few days.
According to the indictment, Bonilla sent the equivalent of more than $20,000 Cdn in cryptocurrency to a digital wallet as a partial repayment, in a sting operation involving a confidential source working with investigators.
On June 20, Bonilla allegedly sent the confidential source a photo to confirm he had organized a 20-kilogram shipment of methamphetamine to Laval to repay the rest of his debt.
Five days later, the indictment says Wedding indicated via Threema that Bonilla had paid the debt "in full."
According to a federal report last year, the estimated street price in Canada for the synthetic drug known as meth or ice can range from $10 to $20 for 100 milligrams. In that form, the total value of the June shipment would be $2 million to $4 million.
Bonilla pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles earlier this month, according to public records. His attorney, Alan Eisner, did not respond to a request for comment.
Bonilla, who remains in custody in Los Angeles, is scheduled to stand trial in May with at least three other co-defendants. Prosecutors recently wrote the disclosure will be "voluminous," including more than 20 gigabytes of photos and audio and video recordings.
Quebec court records show Bonilla previously pleaded guilty to fleeing police and assaulting three officers in Montreal, in connection with a reported high-speed chase in April 2011 that ended after police deployed a spike belt.
Clark was arrested in Mexico last month, while Wedding is believed to be hiding out in that country, or even farther south.
If you have a news tip or important information related to this story, email CBC News senior reporter Thomas Daigle: thomas.daigle@cbc.ca.
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With files from Victoria Stunt