Olympic snowboarder wanted by FBI for cocaine distribution and murder

By James On Oct 17, 2024

A former Olympic snowboarder for Canada has been charged with running a drug trafficking ring that shipped massive amounts of cocaine across America and killed four people, authorities said Thursday.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and extradition of Ryan James Wedding, a Canadian citizen who lived in Mexico and is considered a fugitive. The 43-year-old is charged in the United States with running a criminal enterprise, murder, conspiracy to distribute cocaine and other crimes, U.S. prosecutors said.

U.S. authorities said Wedding’s group transported large shipments of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and California to Canada and other locations in the United States using long-haul semi-trucks. Wedding, who also faces a multi-year indictment in Canada, is one of 16 people charged in connection with a ring that moved 60 tons of cocaine a year, and four of them remain at large, said Martin Estrada, U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. Angeles.

“He chose to become a major drug trafficker and he chose to become a murderer,” Estrada told reporters.

A photo of former Canadian Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding, 43, who is on the run, can be seen above left, along with 15 other defendants charged with allegedly participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation. press conference at the FBI office in Los Angeles on Thursday. Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP

Krysti Hawkins, FBI special agent in charge in Los Angeles, said a dozen people have been arrested in Florida, Michigan, Canada, Colombia and Mexico in connection with the case.

US authorities allege the group killed two members of a family in Canada in retaliation for a stolen drug shipment. Officials there said there was a case of mistaken identity, as did two other people, according to officials and federal court documents. Authorities said they seized cocaine, weapons, ammunition, cash and more than $3 million in cryptocurrency in connection with their investigation.

Wedding competed for Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, authorities said.

Wedding is facing separate drug trafficking charges in Canada dating back to 2015, said Chris Leather, chief inspector with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. “These charges are virtually unsolved,” Leather said.

Wedding was previously convicted in the U.S. of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to prison in 2010, federal records show. Estrada said U.S. authorities believe he resumed drug trafficking after Wedding’s release and was protected by Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.