Authorities announced Thursday that former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding has been charged with running a drug trafficking ring that has shipped vast amounts of cocaine across the United States and has also killed several people. The 43-year-old Canadian is being charged by prosecutors in the United States with running a criminal enterprise, murder and conspiring to distribute cocaine, among other crimes.
U.S. authorities say Wedding's group has used long-haul semi-trucks to traffic large shipments of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada, with the ring moving 60 tons of cocaine a year. Wedding and another member of the ring are said to be responsible for the November 2023 murder of two members of an Ontario family in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment in a case of mistaken identity. Wedding and the same ring member are also said to have ordered the May 2024 killing of another person over an unpaid drug debt.
The #FBI offers a reward of up to $50,000 for info leading to the apprehension, arrest & extradition of Ryan James Wedding, wanted for alleged involvement in a transnational drug trafficking operation & multiple murders in furtherance of these drug crimes: https://t.co/RFdFwKgSaf pic.twitter.com/YY6s8pmPqx
— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) October 17, 2024
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and extradition of Wedding, who competed for Canada in the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. Wedding, who in 2010 was sentenced to prison on a conviction of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, had been living in Mexico -- where he has been protected by the Sinaloa Cartel -- and is considered a fugitive. He also faces separate drug trafficking charges in Canada dating back to 2015.
Authorities say that Wedding, who is on the FBI Most Wanted list, should be considered armed and dangerous. Wedding competed in one 2002 Olympic event, the men's giant parallel slalom, where he finished 24th.
