People skiing and snowboarding. Illustration photo by Pixabay |
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said it was offering a reward of up to US$50,000 for information leading to the arrest of Ryan James Wedding, who competed for Canada in men’s snowboarding at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, finishing 24th in the parallel giant slalom.
The 43-year-old Wedding, who was thought to be living in Mexico, is among 16 defendants charged with running a drug trafficking organization that shipped hundreds of pounds of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and southern California to Canada and other U.S. locations.
Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, who unsealed new charges in the case on Thursday, said one alleged co-conspirator – 34-year-old Canadian Andrew Clark – had been apprehended by authorities in Mexico last week but that Wedding remained at large.
Prosecutors allege that Wedding and Clark orchestrated the November 2023 murders of two Canadians over a stolen drug shipment and “allegedly also ordered the murder of another victim on May 18, 2024, over a drug debt.”
Wedding – whose aliases include “El Jefe,” “Giant,” and “Public Enemy” – has been charged with eight felonies in the United States, including three murder charges.
“The Wedding Drug Trafficking Organization and its unremitting, callous and greed-driven crimes has been operating for far too long, spanning several countries, from Colombia through Mexico, the U.S. and to Canada,” said Matthew Allen, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Los Angeles.
“They have triggered an avalanche of violent crimes, including brutal murders. Wedding, the Olympian snowboarder, went from navigating slopes to contouring a life of incessant crimes.”
Authorities said they seized more than one ton of cocaine, weapons, ammunition, $255,000 and more than $3 million in cryptocurrency in the course of the investigation.
Several of the defendants in custody are expected to appear in court over the coming week in Los Angeles, Michigan and Miami.
If convicted as charged, Wedding and Clark would face a mandatory minimum penalty of life in federal prison on the murder and attempted murder charges, prosecutors said.
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